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Foam Beetle
A terrestrial, tied #12–18, a summer pattern. It is tied against 7 named insects in this book — May–October.
A floating terrestrial built around peacock herl under a black foam shellback, the Foam Beetle sits low and stays up, which is most of what a summer dry needs to do. It is tied on a standard dry-fly hook in sizes 12–18 with black 8/0 thread, legs of black rubber or Krystal Flash three to a side, and a small orange foam dot on the back to keep it visible on broken or shaded water. The silhouette covers a wide range of land-bred insects: black ants from June through September in water of 55 to 80 degrees, crickets from August into October at 55 to 75, grasshoppers from July through September at 60 to 80, inchworms in May and June at 50 to 68, Japanese beetles in July and August at 60 to 80, and June bugs at 58 to 75. It is fished under any bank with trees on it, all summer, landing with a small plop and then drifting without drag.
- #12–18Hook size
- terrestrialType
- SummerSeason
- 7Hatches matched
What it looks like
A drawing, not a photograph, and not traced from one. Its proportions were read off 5 independent reference photographs of the pattern and written down as 5 measured characteristics — wing angle, tail length against the shank, how far a hackle fibre reaches — every one of which had to hold across more than one of them before it could be drawn. What survives across many photographs of a fly is the fly.
What it imitates
Each of these is the same hatch record the app's own panel reads, so a pattern recommended on a river card in the app is recommended for one of the insects below.
- Black Ant Formicidae · June–September · 55–80°F · #14–20
- Cricket Gryllidae · August–October · 55–75°F · #10–14
- Grasshopper Acrididae · July–September · 60–80°F · #8–12
- Inchworm Geometridae · May–June · 50–68°F · #12–16
- Japanese Beetle Popillia japonica · July–August · 60–80°F · #12–16
- June Bug / Beetle Phyllophaga spp. · June–July · 58–75°F · #10–14
- Leafhopper Cicadellidae · June–September · 58–75°F · #18–22
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | Standard dry-fly hook, sizes 12–18 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 8/0 |
| Body | Peacock herl under a black foam shellback |
| Legs | Black rubber or Krystal Flash, three per side |
| Indicator | Small orange foam dot on the back |
When to fish it
Under any bank with trees on it, all summer. Fished with a small plop and no drag.
A summer pattern. The insects it matches are active may–october, in water from 50°F to 80°F.
Target species
- Trout
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Escanaba River the Upper Peninsula · July mean 68.3°F
- Saint Croix River northern Wisconsin · July mean 77.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Black Foam Ant terrestrial · #14–20 — Floats low, which is how a real ant sits. Small water, tight to the bank.
- Black Cricket terrestrial · #10–14 — Late summer into October, after the hoppers thin out.
- Dave's Hopper terrestrial · #8–12 — Deer hair and legs. The classic, and it lands with the right kind of thud.
- Foam Inchworm terrestrial · #12–16 — A length of bright green foam and nothing else. Cast tight to overhanging hardwood; the natural arrives from above, not from upstream.
- Japanese Beetle terrestrial · #12–16 — Green-bronze back. Worth carrying where grapevines overhang the water.