Troutnut Forum > Fly Tying Discussion > honey bug
| LittleJ | February 13th, 2008, 5:17 pm | |
| Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 128 | I saw this fly posted on another board, I have never seen or fished one. So my question is has anyone fished it and know the recipe. I did a quick google search and came up blank. thanks jeff | |
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| Taxon | February 13th, 2008, 6:08 pm | |
| Mercer Island, WA Posts: 478 | Jeff- This is the only useful info I was able to Google up: troutbert wrote: Some of you may remember Paul Berger's Honey Bug kits, with tying instructions. Honey Bugs are basically just chenille wrapped around a hook, but you were supposed to tie them in a very specific way, so that the threads hung out the back for more action. Once in a while I hear people talking about these kits, always with a big grin on their face. Why? Just because they were unique, a little part of PA flyfishing history. | |
| Roger Rohrbeck www.FlyfishingEntomology.com | ||
| Andyg | February 13th, 2008, 7:26 pm | |
| Eastern Sussex co., NJ Posts: 12 | If I remember correctly, the Honey Bug was tied with a cotton chenille, which is different from the regular chenille we now buy and use. I still have several cards of it I bought from E. Hille. That was attributed as being one of the reasons for its effectiveness. | |
| Martinlf | February 13th, 2008, 7:38 pm | |
| Palmyra PA Posts: 903 | The fly is deadly. The Little Lehigh Fly Shop specially dyes honeybug yarn for its honeybug inchworm. White works well too. Watch the mail, Jeff. E. Hille (and perhaps Hook and Hackle) still sell the yarn. It's basically the same as a green weenie, which I also fish despite the loud guffaws of my peers. | |
| Louis Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? A trout! that is more sharp-sighted than any hawk . . . and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold! --Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler | ||
| Shawnny3 | February 13th, 2008, 9:55 pm | |
| Pleasant Gap, PA Posts: 538 | It's basically the same as a green weenie, which I also fish despite the loud guffaws of my peers. It's one thing to fish it, Louis, quite another to say so publicly in this esteemed forum. Shameful. Jason, please excuse Louis's lapse in judgment. You've let him get away with haiku - please don't ban him for this. -Shawn | |
| Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis www.davisflydesigns.com | ||
| LittleJ | February 14th, 2008, 4:57 pm | |
| Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 128 | thanks guys for the response, seems easy enough. I'll have to stop by the little lehigh next time i'm in the area. Which should be pretty soon. Jeff | |
| Wbranch | March 13th, 2008, 7:34 am | |
| Starlight PA Posts: 230 | Anyone who admits to using Green Weenies is also likely to use sucker spawn, glo bugs, and other assorted non aquatic life form flies. | |
| West Branch & main stem fly fisher for forty-two years. | ||
| Kroil | March 13th, 2008, 7:50 am | |
| Coastal NJ Posts: 34 | Or worms... | |
| When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns. - Jack Handey | ||
| JAD | March 13th, 2008, 8:50 am | |
| Butler--- Western Pa Posts: 157 | Put your nose down boys,every one can see your hairs. "If we carry purism to it's logical conclusion, to do it right you'd have to live naked in a cave, hit your trout on the head with rocks, and eat them raw. But, so as not to violate another essential element of the fly-fishing tradition, the rocks would have to be quarried in England and cost $300 each." Thats all I have to say about that. John | |
| Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed. | ||
| Wbranch | March 13th, 2008, 9:03 am | |
| Starlight PA Posts: 230 | Louis knows I'm just teasing him, if he wants to use Green Weenies and other yarn flies go at it! | |
| West Branch & main stem fly fisher for forty-two years. | ||
| Kroil | March 13th, 2008, 10:02 am | |
| Coastal NJ Posts: 34 | Fine with me too, I would even suggest tying them on treblehooks and marinating the yarn flies in worm juice. I'm hardly a purist,.....errr, uh,... can you really see the nosehairs? | |
| When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns. - Jack Handey | ||
| JAD | March 13th, 2008, 5:54 pm | |
| Butler--- Western Pa Posts: 157 | The dry fly fishing has been slow, and I to was looking for a rise:) John | |
| Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed. | ||
| SlateDrake9 | March 13th, 2008, 6:14 pm | |
| Potter County, PA Posts: 47 | Hey guys, Sorry to tell you this, but fishing a green weenie is not any different than fishing a royal wulff, royal coachman, mickey finn and many other good producing flies that have a place in just about every flyfisher's box. I'm just saying. :-) Also, the green weenie is tied differently than the honey bug. E. Hillie in S. Williamsport is the only shop that I have found that sells "real" honey bug chenille. The key to a sucessful honey bug is to pull out one of the 3 strands of string that is the core of the honey bug chenille before you wrap it around the hook. They are awsome for panfish. | |
| Fishing with bait is like swearing in church. -- Slate Drake | ||
| Wbranch | March 13th, 2008, 8:14 pm | |
| Starlight PA Posts: 230 | Yea, your right all the flies you mentioned have never resided in my fly boxes. | |
| West Branch & main stem fly fisher for forty-two years. | ||
| Martinlf | March 13th, 2008, 11:44 pm | |
| Palmyra PA Posts: 903 | Guilty as charged, though the originator of the curly worm is on thin ice (or in a glass house) when he tries to shame me. Perhaps I'll get good enough to turn up my nose at flies that connect me with big fish someday, but I doubt it. I love fishing any and everything that goes on a hook so long as it has been dead long enough not to be too juicy. Fur, feathers, plastic, metal, are all valid ingredients so far as I'm concerned, and none is superior to any other in my book, though I know some who spurn anything but natural materials, and others who thrive on synthetics. Boys, you all know that the name of the game is presentation. It's not what you tie on, but how you deliver it that makes the sport what it is--OK, at least for me. So look up at those stars, but be careful where you walk, you just might step in a hole. :) | |
| Louis Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? A trout! that is more sharp-sighted than any hawk . . . and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold! --Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler | ||
| LittleJ | March 14th, 2008, 1:44 pm | |
| Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 128 | couldn't have said it better myself louis. I tie some fancy flies but for some reason they don't spend nearly as much time in the water. | |
| SlateDrake9 | March 14th, 2008, 8:09 pm | |
| Potter County, PA Posts: 47 | I'm not putting all of the attractor flies down, fellas. I use them all of the time with great sucess. I'm just saying I really don't see how someone can put down the green weenie because of how it looks, but feel like a traditionalist when they fish a royal wulff, etc. | |
| Fishing with bait is like swearing in church. -- Slate Drake | ||
| Wbranch | March 14th, 2008, 9:14 pm | |
| Starlight PA Posts: 230 | You know many of you guys gotta ligthen up a little bit! Louis himself mentioned how some of his peers give him a rasberry when he uses chenille or yarn flies. I was just adding a little of my needles to the thread. I don't give a hoot what guys want to put on the ends of their leaders. I've been known to apply "Blood Dots" to my tippet when fishing in any PA stocked waters. I'll tie on a wet inch worm which is really just a 9672 wrapped with chartruese chenille which pretty much looks like a Green Weenie. As long as you are having a good time on the water that is what it is all about. | |
| West Branch & main stem fly fisher for forty-two years. | ||
| Softhackle | March 15th, 2008, 8:46 am | |
| Wellsville, NY Posts: 142 | Interesting. I've tied and used the Weenie, but I've never heard to the "Honey Bug". I'd love to see a photo of one. Mark | |
| "I have the highest respect for the skilled wet-fly fisherman, as he has mastered an art of very great difficulty." Edward R. Hewitt Flymphs, Soft-hackles and Spiders | ||
| Martinlf | March 15th, 2008, 3:02 pm | |
| Palmyra PA Posts: 903 | It's all in good fun. I do note that Slate Drake correctly states that the Weenie is tied differently from the true purist's Honey Bug. In a previous post in this thread I mistakenly suggested they used the same (admittedly arcane and complex) tying procedure. For those advanced tiers who dare venture into such layered and detailed procedures and recipes, I will attempt to explain how to tie these distinct and species-specific flies. First I explain how to tie a Honey Bug: Get Honey Bug Yarn. Tie it in wrapping over it with your thread back to the hook bend then forward to the eye. Wrap the yarn forward on the hook. Tie it off. (You may want to add Slate Drake's step of removing the third string--see above--but this is beyond my tying skills.) Next I will describe the Sinking Inch Worm that I often fish: Get chartreuse Chenille, as thick and plush as you can find. Tie it in, wrapping over it with your thread back to the hook bend then forward to the eye. Wrap chenille forward on the hook. Tie it off. Finally, and only for the most advanced tyers, here are directions for the Green Weenie: Get chartreuse Chenille, as thick and plush as you can find. Tie it in like you would for a Honey Bug or Sinking Inch Worm but don't wrap your thread forward back to the eye. Twist chenille and let it furl on itself to create a little tail. Tie the yarn back down just above the hook bend. Wrap your thread to the eye, then wrap the chenille forward. Tie it off. OK, I may have screwed up the Weenie tie, and am ready to be corrected by more expert tiers, but in my defense I'll note that I fish the Sinking Inch Worm, hence my earlier mistake equating the Weenie method with the Honey Bug tie. Some swear by that little tail, though, and I've been considering it, if I could only master the techinque. I'll also note that I fish the San Juan worm, and find it ironic that some who disdain the Weenie use it and find it an elegant tie. I would describe the method for tying it, but I'll leave that equally complicated fly for a later tutorial. | |
| Louis Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? A trout! that is more sharp-sighted than any hawk . . . and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold! --Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler | ||
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