Question:
Can anybody point me in the directions of any good glass bead body patterns
for caddis or midge on the 'net. As a beginner, I try to find patterns with
pictures. I just bought some beads at the craft store while killing time
while my wife was off looking for more Christmas decorations.
Answer:
-Can't think of any website for bead body flies right off the top of my head
but try www.flyanglersonline.com . They have a lot of patterns and even step
by step tying instructions, with pictures.
And watch those beads you buy at the craft stores. Fly tying beads are
specially made for the purpose. The back side of the bead is drilled out
bigger to accommodate the bend in the hook. Some of those craft store beads
will not fit around the bend of the hook. And if they do, they may be too
big and slip over the eye of the hook, or just be too big and not fit right.
-. I tried out one of the 10/0 beads on a #18 scud/caddis pupa
type hook with a kinda sweeping bend and they just barely fit. I found a
pattern last night shown in 2 different versions that was called Killer
Caddis. I thought that it might be fun to whip out some of these in
different color combinations to use as droppers.
-I discovered some lovely tiny pale green glass beads in my travels which,
well not made specifically for the task, make really interesting flies which
i'll be anxious to try out in the spring...the patterns i've made are all
bead, six wee beads on a scud hook with a thread head. Playing around with
different patterns a couple years ago I made some bead-head caddis larvae in
which the bodies are nothing by dyed moose main, some in two colours (two
strands of one colour and one strand of the other). I tied these on quite
small caddis hooks and laquered the bodies to give them strength...no
throat, no hackle, nothing else. I tied them for kicks, just to see, you
know and found them to be by far the most successful caddis larvae pattern I
had used. I'm hoping the sparseness of these bead body jobs is equally as
effective. They look segmented, just like the natural, and because the
beads are really tiny, the fly can be about the right size too.
When I started tying, I was a slave to patterns and to magazines and stuff
like that until I realized it was way more fun to follow my instincts, to
experiment based on my experience, and to take lots of liberties if I feel
like it (I also discovered that really paying attention to my environment
meant catching a lot more trout). I still tie certain patterns faithfully,
but I no longer feel that I have to
