I got tired of tying dozens of Flashback PT Nymphs years ago. I spent a year experimenting with glass bead flies. I liked their 3d segmentation. AND, they worked great. Lots of fish. LOTS of fish. They were much faster to tie than a normal PT nymph. However, no matter what I tried they were not durable. The fish tore them up and they fell apart way too fast for selling to the public, and for my enjoyment on the lake. Putting UV cure on the body helped with durability but the 3d segmentation was lost.
So, I changed to 2 beads at the head with a PT or thread body. They worked just as well. Then, Why Not make an all bead fly? Thus the Bad Bead Bug was developed. The recipe is as follows:
- The Fly Shop 2457 Scud Hook: 2x Short, 2x Wide, 2x Strong, size 16
- 2.0 mm brass top bead or top two beads
- 1.5 mm brass 2nd through 4th beads, or 3rd and 4th if two 2.0 mm beads are on top
- Ultra Thread 70 to form a tapered body and “plug” to hold the beads towards the eye
- A tail is optional. I don’t put on tails as my “real PT nymphs” lost tails quickly and still worked
- Top Bead Colors: Gold, Silver, Black, Copper, etc.
- “Flashback” colors for 2nd bead: Green
- Body Colors: Black, Brown, Red, Coffee
- Thread Coating: Sally Hanson’s Hard as Nails, or Super Glue, or UV Cure
I started a study to compare superglue, Sally Hanson’s Hardener, and UV Cure to determine the best “glue” to cement the threads. After my first fly was fine after 150 casts and landing eighteen 13 to 16 inch fish, I decided Sally Hanson’s was okay.
I estimated that almost every fly I tie costs about 25 cents each: buggers, midges, balanced leeches, mohair leeches, etc. For the 3B Midge: 4 beads at 5 cents each and an 11 cent hook was fine for me as they worked and I could tie a fly in less than 2 minutes. After a couple months break due to going back into teaching high school science……..beads are up to 10 cents each, so each fly is costing 50 cents or more.
At this point I am fine with the cost (I think). However, I probably will go back to two beads and a thread body to keep the costs down. Regardless, the 3B Midge is easy to tie, easy to mix up colors, and works as well as a conventional Flashback PT Nymph, and much faster to tie. And of course, it gives me a chance to run a comprehensive randomized study comparing a standard flashback PT Nymph’s success to a similar 3B Midge. I hope this helps others.
Tight Lines!