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Lightning Bug
Lightning Bug
Tying Instructions
1. Place a bead, Silver or Gold, onto the hook.
2. Wrap 4-5 turns of leadfree wire around the shank and shove the wire into the cavity of the bead.
3. Attach the thread behind the bead and lay a thread foundation to the bend of the hook.
4.Tie in 5-6 strands of Pheasant Tail Fibers for a tail. Length of tail does not exceed the hook shank.
5. Bring the thread back up to behind the bead and attach a copper wire rib to the bottom of the hook shank with the end of the wire into the bead cavity. Secure the wire ribbing along the bottom of the hook shank, wrapping the wire down to the base of the tail.
6. Attach a section of Pearlescent Mylar to the top of the hook shank and secure to the base of the tail. Wrap the thread back to the bead creating a slightly tapered body.
7. Wrap the mylar from the base of the tail and the thorax area which is about a bead width behind the bead. Secure the mylar with thread wraps.
8. Wrap the copper wire ribbing forward with 4 evenly spaced wraps over the mylar to just past the midpoint of the shank. Tie down.
9. Tie in a piece of Pearlescent Mylar for a wingcase behind the bead and secure back about one bead width. This is where you secured the copper wire ribbing.
10. Tie in 2 strands of peacock herl by the tips in the same location as the wingcase. This will be the thorax.
11. Wrap the herl forward, back, and forward again to build up a sizeable thorax. Secure the tag end with a couple of thread wraps and clip off the tag.
12. Prepare the leg material by selecting a Hen Back hackle. Remove the tip of the hackle and stroke the lower portion of the fibers back into a planar orientation. The tip fibers will be the legs and are in a V formation with a selected number of fibers on each side of the fly.
13. Secure the hackle to the top of the shank with two thread wraps just behind the bead. Use the space you created on the hackle when you stroked back the lower fibers. Pulling back on the hackle you can adjust the length of the legs. Keep the two segments separated by pulling the leg fibers to the side of the shank. The leg length should just exceed the thorax body. Once positioned, secure with 2-3 tight thread wraps behind the bead and trim off the tag end of the hackle.
14. Pull the mylar wingcase over the thorax between the leg hackle and secure with 2-3 additional thread wraps just behind the bead.
15. Trim the tag ends and Whip Finish.
16. Apply some UV Fly Finish Flow to the wingcase and thread wraps.
17. Cure the finish with a UV lamp.
18. The finished Lightning Bug.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | Hanak 230BL, #12-16 |
| Thread | Veevus White 10/0 |
| Head | Gold Tungsten Bead |
| Weight | 0.020 Leadfree wire |
| Body | Pearlescent Mylar, Medium |
| Tail | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
| Wingcase | Pearlescent Mylar, Medium |
| Legs | Brown Henback Hackle Fibers |
| Ribbing | Copper Wire, small |
Yakima River
Lightning Bug
Developed by the late Larry Graham of Kirkland, WA in 1992, a noted fly tier and fly fishing guide. Larry Graham died of colon cancer on Nov. 27, 2002 . Originally, it was designed for the Yakima River but quickly became popular throughout most of the Western streams.
Flash and Brass
Brass beads became available for fly tying during the late 1980’s and Larry saw the advantage of designing a nymph utilizing the beadhead for quick descents. He desired some flash and used flashabou as a ribbing but found that it just was not durable. Larry resolved this problem by using flashabou for the abdomen and ribbing it with copper wire. As the design progressed, Larry used Pearlescent Mylar for the abdomen since it had a greater durability and came in different widths. The material also gave a subtle green coloration to the abdomen from the refraction of the brass colored hook.
Tailwater Pattern
A peacock thorax blended nicely with the greenish abdomen and legs were added using Brown Hen back hackle fibers. This greenish hue gives the pattern a good representation of green caddis larvae. The pattern was first published through Fly Tier magazine in Spring 1998 and a subsequent book by Leeson and Schollmeyer, “Trout Flies of the West” (1998).
The pattern is particularly good on tailwaters where it sinks quickly and attracts attention. The profile is similar to a Pheasant Tail Nymph yet it is considered an attractor pattern. Best results are found in riffles and runs where nymphs are prevalent. If the depth is not great, a single Lightning Bug beneath an indicator will work well. For deeper waters and faster currents, try using the Lightning Bug as a dropper with a heavier fly as the point. Since it is a bright fly pattern, it has a limited use during low flows when the water is clear and there are bright days.
Variations
John Mundinger
There are many variations of the Lightning Bug. John Mundinger came up with a nice variation enhancing the greenish color of the abdomen by using a chartreuse thread underbody with Chartreuse Ultra wire as rib over the Pearlescent Mylar. You may also find the use of Silver Mylar for the abdomen and the use of Hungarian Partridge as a soft hackle pattern.
Different colors of Holographic Tinsel are also available and color variations are made with these substitutions. Gold or Amber colorations may represent Pale Morning Duns. The thorax and legs are sometimes substituted with a synthetic dubbing which speeds up the tying process. Another touch to consider is a drop of epoxy on the wingcase as well as a thin application of epoxy on the abdomen without a wire ribbing.
The Pink variation has been found to be a popular color during the Winter months on our Sierran tailwaters, tied in a small size 18-20. The Purple coloration is a good choice during the Summer months in larger sizes of 14-16. Larger sizes of the Lightning Bug #8-12 are also used for Steelhead in Northern Calif. and the Northwest Rivers.
Variations
John Mundinger’s Lightning Bug
| Hook | TMC 3769 #14-18 |
| Thread | Danville Chartreuse 6/0 |
| Head | Gold Tungsten Bead |
| Underbody | Danville Chartreuse 6/0 |
| Body | Pearlescent Mylar, Medium |
| Tail | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
| Wingcase | Pheasant Tail Barbs |
| Legs | Pheasant Tail Barbs |
| Ribbing | Chartreuse Ultra Wire |
Soft Hackle Lightning Bug
| Hook | TMC 2457, #12-18 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Tan 8/0 |
| Head | Gold Bead |
| Body | Pearlescent Mylar, Medium |
| Tail | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
| Wingcase | Pearlescent Mylar, Medium |
| Hackle | Partridge |
| Ribbing | Small Silver Wire |
Orvis Lightning Bug
| Hook | TMC 2457, #12-18 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Tan 8/0 |
| Head | Silver Tungsten Bead |
| Body | Flat Silver Tinsel |
| Tail | Tan Turkey Biots |
| Thorax | Lt. Olive Brown Haretron Dubbing |
| Wingcase | Pearlescent Mylar, Medium |
| Ribbing | Small Silver Wire |
Pink Lightning Bug
| Hook | TMC 2457, #16-18 |
| Thread | Veevus 6/0 Pink |
| Head | Silver Tungsten Bead |
| Body | Pink Flashabou |
| Tail | McFlylon, Cerise |
| Thorax | Lightning Dub, Fl. Shrimp |
| Wingcase | Pearlescent Mylar, Medium |
| Ribbing | Small Red Wire |
Purple Lightning Bug
| Hook | Hanak 230BL, #12-16 |
| Thread | Veevus 8/0 Black |
| Head | Silver Tungsten Bead |
| Body | Purple Holographic Tinsel |
| Tail | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Thorax | Lightning Dub, Fl. Shrimp and Lightning Dub, Purple |
| Wingcase | Pearlescent Mylar, Medium |
| Legs | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Ribbing | Small Black Wire |