The cicadas are coming! By now, you’ve surely heard that this year, the Brood X cicadas will be hatching across the East and parts of the Midwest. Fly fishers are salivating at the prospect of big trout coming to the surface to feast on these giant bugs, so imitations have been proliferating for months in advance of the hatch. Sadly, Vermont is not home to these bugs, so we will have to travel south and west to find them.
In this week’s great video from Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions, he walks you through the steps to create a foam-body version that looks a lot like the monstrosities often fished out West. It all starts with a four-layer foam body. To learn how to create such a foam sandwich, check out Tim’s One-Minute Tying Tips video from last week, How to Bond Layers of Craft Foam. Then it’s all about securing the materials and making the pattern easy to see.
Super Simple Cicada
Hook: Bomber hook (here an Ahrex HR418), size 4.
Thread: Black, 6/0 or 140-denier or heavier.
Underbody: Black rabbit-fur dubbing.
Adhesive #1: Superglue (here, Fly Tyers Z-Ment).
Body: Black and orange 2mm foam.
Legs: Orange black-barred round-rubber legs, medium.
Underwing: Pearl Krystal Flash.
Adhesive #2: Superglue (here, Fly Tyers Z-Ment).
Wing: Tan deer-body hair, cleaned and stacked.
Hot spot: Orange 2mm foam.
Thread cover: Black rabbit-fur dubbing.
Adhesive: Head cement (here, Sally Hansen Hard-As-Nails).
Tools: Foam-body cutter, spray adhesive, whip-finish tool, bodkin.
Credit: Source link
