Video: How to Tie Reece’s Beefcake Beetle

Bob Reece is a junior-high science teacher from Cheyenne, Wyoming, who spends his summer guiding for North Park Anglers in Walden, Colorado. He also works with the Cheyenne branch of Project Healing Waters and runs a fly-fishing club for 7th and 8th grade students at the school where he works. You can learn more by visiting his Reece’s Thin Air Angler Facebook page. We have previously featured his Hot Amber Caddis Nymph, Hindsight trailing streamer, Missing Link dry fly,Simple Mini Leech, and Fusion Nymph.

In this video, he ties a great beetle imitation that looks like it will float forever. Here’s how Bob describes Reece’s Beefcake Beetle:

Beetles are abundant in the riparian environments that surround many of the waters that trout inhabit. Though their size range varies drastically, beetles’ appeal to trout in those areas is consistent. On water where trout frequently see hopper patterns, a properly presented beetle can often become a difference-maker. Due to its chunky construction, even a size 12 Beefcake Beetle will float up to a size 12 tungsten bead-head nymph. This pattern has produced fish from high-elevation lakes down to low-elevation rivers throughout the Colorado and Wyoming regions that I guide in. More recently, this winter it has become a go-to terrestrial pattern for many anglers visiting Chile and Argentina.

In this video, Bob walks you through the steps to create the pattern, which is pretty simple, as long as you can remember to “cinch and pinch.” I like the way that Bob adds durability through liberal use of glue throughout.

          Reece’s Beefcake Beetle
          Hook: Barbless dry-fly hook, (Here, a Tiemco 900BI), sizes 8 and 12.
          Thread: Black, 6/0 or 140-denier.
          Adhesive #1: Zap-A-Gap.
          Underbody: Beetle Green Loco Foam, one hook gap wide.
          Overbody #1: 2mm Black foam, 3/16-inch wider than hook gap.
          Overbody #2: 2mm Black foam, 1/8-inch wide.
          Legs: Black round-rubber legs, small.
          Antennae: Black round-rubber legs, small.
          Indicator: 2mm White foam.
          Adhesive #2: UV Clear Cure Goo Hydro.
          Adhesive #3: Zap-A-Gap.
          Tools: Lead wire, small paintbrush.