Quick and easy Sanchez Mega Beetle; the hackle helps the fly land point down more often than not (don’t know how, ask Scott Sanchez):
Hook - Dai Riki 280 #12
Thread - Uni 6/0 black
Body - peacock herl
Shell - 2mm foam black
Legs - round rubber black (medium)
Indicator - 2mm foam
Hackle - Grizzly dyed brown
lay on thread base
tie in peacock at head and wrap to back (helps build bulk without taking steroids)
wrap peacock and thread together up the hook (thread helps re-enforce the peacock against fish teeth)
wrap thread back to about 75% position
attach near leg
and far leg
blob of Super Glue gel for shell tie-in
couple wraps (not too tight so foam doesn’t cut) to attach shell
add indicator (btw, I’m just playing around with these multi-color indicators to see if they’re more visible; a single piece of 2mm foam in your favorite color works just as well)
Nice rendition and great presentation of another neat pattern from Scott Sanchez. Maybe the hackle tends to “helicopter” the fly down to the water ??!!
Thanks, John. That’s kinda what I was thinking; went back and re-read the section in his book “A New Generation of Trout Flies” and he said the hackle offers “air resistance to make the fly land upright, most of the time”. Mine definitely land hook-down more often than the standard foam-strip beetles I’ve tied in the past.
