BASS
RAY'S BEETLE
Foam beetles have
probably been around since not long after foam itself was first
invented but I'm not sure if any of the traditional foam beetles are of
the scale of this monster. Ray Ellis has scaled up the basic foam beetle to create a great
representational fly for Christmas beetles, other big beetles, wood
roaches and cicadas. All these big bugs have bodies
between around 1.5 cm and 3 cm in length that are
about twice as long as they are wide. Many
different types of
beetles, cockroaches and other big bugs
are also fond in the vegetation around Bass habitat.
There
are those that live in the tall gum trees, other that live in pastures,
those that live in the mulch
and yet
others
peculiar to the overgrown banks of our rivers and streams. Because
these big
bugs
are
blown or fall onto the water rather than intending to be there it is
common to
find a number of different types of beetles and other big bugs on the
bass' “shopping
list”
at the one time.
In the case of the
beetles they have a propensity for their inner wing cover to get
trapped on the water surface as they struggle to escape its
hold
(looking like a fluffy tail from underneath). Their under-bodies
are segmented and shiny (often greenish black),
they have obvious legs with one set
originating at the rear of the thorax, and two sets originating at the
front of the thorax, the underside of the thorax is covered with
short hair and they have small heads.
I have found Ray's fly to be a good representation for a range of these
big bugs. It can
be used
as a general prospecting fly or to
"match the hatch". It
lands with a loud plop and floats hook down. I generally fish it on a 2
meter 10lb straight mono tippet. You need fairly heavy tippet to, turn
the fly over, pull the fly it out of vegetation when you miscast, and
to control bass that are intent in making cover once hooked.
When the fish are
feeding cast the fly well into cover and let it sit for a few seconds
whilst the initial impact rings on the surface of the water settle. If
there is no response just wiggle the line to start the rings again. If
you do this a couple of times and there is still no response pick the
fly up and present it in the next likely spot. When the fish are not
really active this fly often elicits a response when the above tactic
is combined with a medium speed wake retrieve or a popper like
retrieve. The popper retrieve is particularly useful when you need to
get the attention of otherwise quiet fish or when the bass are feeding
on cicadas. It doesn't matter how your fishing the fly the main thing
is that when a bass does decide to take the fly the hits are generally
very visual, fast and aggressive.
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A
Bass' view of Ray's Beetle |
Slightly plumper
versions tied
with visual
indicators for use as
indicators
under which you
can fish a
nymph or two. |
MATERIALS
FOR RAYS BEETLE:
Hook - Size 2 to 1/0 stainless
Thread - Black rod
binding thread
"Tail" - Rabbit
fur
Back - Closed
cell foam
Body and head
dubbing - Estaz chenille
Legs - Rubber or
silicon legs
| A)
HOOKS
Hook selection is important in this fly. You don't need
a lot of these flies as when tied properly they are very durable and
unless you, fish too light a leader, let a bass bully you, or
leave it hanging in a tree out of reach you are unlikely to loose them.
Because of this I favour lighter gauge stainless hooks rather than
bronze hooks and zinc coated hooks that can rust.
THREAD
To tie these flies tightly enough to withstand the
rigors of fishing you need to put a lot of tension on your foam as you
tie the closed cell foam in. Normal fly tying thread is just not strong
enough for that and I suggest that you use rod binding thread. There
are of course plenty of unbreakable fly tying threads around but I have
found them to be too thin and as a result they cut the closed cell foam
rather than actually tying in down.
CLOSED CELL FOAM
- The closed cell foam is undoubtedly the key
ingredient to this fly and as a word of caution I suggest that you
don't just assume all closed cell foam is the same. You should
always select the foam you intend to use for a fly and tie tie up just
one fly, immerse it in soapy water (so you get a worst case
assessment), wash it around for a while and make sure your happy with
its performance before you commit to tying multiples of the fly or
fishing the one fly you have tied. You will be surprised how many
closed cell foam flies fail this basic test.
- The piece of closed cell foam selected should be
about 2.25 as long as the hook and should be as wide as the gape of the
hook.
- The following table is a guideline of thickness of
good quality closed cell foam needed to float a foam beetle.
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Hook size |
#4 |
# 2 |
# 1 |
# 1/0 |
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Closed cell foam thickness |
3mm |
3mm |
4mm |
5mm |
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A)
- Wind
the thread in
touching turns from the 80% position to the bend of the hook.
- Tie in a
short tail like feature. Beetles don't have tails but they often
have a tail like feature trailing behind when they get trapped in
water. This feature is part of the wing cover that often trails
behind the beetle like a tail when it gets trapped in the water.
- Take the thread back to the 80% position.
- I then generally apply a coat of PVA glue along the
shank of the hook.
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B)
Cut a piece of closed cell that is about 2.25 as long
as the hook that is as wide as the gape of the hook with a V at the
leading edge.
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C)
- Tie in closed cell foam very tightly at the 80%
position.
- Leave a little knob of closed cell foam in front of
where the closed cell foam is tied in and behind the eye of the hook.
This little knob will be instrumental in standing the leading edge of
the closed cell foam up so that it acts as a popper.
- Turn the fly upside down in the vice and apply a
little PVA glue or a smidge of 5 minute epoxy or contact adhesive to the underside of the
closed cell foam.
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D)
- Put the fly the right way up in the vice and at about
half compression tie the closed cell foam along the hook shank in with
separated wraps of the thread.
- At the bend of the hook, just behind where the tail is
tied in, tie the foam down very tightly. Not only does this form an
underbody but it also attaches the foam to the shank of the hook
without squeezing out all its buoyancy.
- Tie in a length of the estaz chenille at the bend of
the hook. (You can use two contrasting Estaz chenilles for the body as
on option. If your doing that uses the darker chenille in the rear two
thirds of the body and the lighter contrasting chenille in the front
part of the body).
- Take the thread forward along the underbody to the 80
position, at about half compression, with 3 or 4 separated wraps of the
thread.
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E)
Wind the estaz
chenille forward covering the underbody and tie it of and trim
the excess.
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F)
- Pull the
closed cell foam over the top of the body and tie it down very tightly
at the 80 % position.
- Tie the thread off
under the knob, trim the thread and varnish the thread.
- If necessary trim
the closed cell foam so that it finished right above the leading edge
of the eye of the hook.
- I like to trim the
loose ends of the estaz chenille neatly under the fly.
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G)
- Thread the leg
rubber onto a darning needle and push the darning needle through the
estaz chenille and foam underbody of the fly one one diagonally. The
legs should be in the front half of the fly.
- Reload the darning
needle with leg rubber and this time pass the needle through the fly on
the opposite diagonal.
- Trim the leg
material off so that the legs are even on each side and about as long
as the shank of the hook.
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| H)
The finished fly. Notice that the little knob of foam
left in step A holds the leading edge of the foam back up forming a
basic but effective popper head.
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