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Fly Tying

> honey bug

LittleJ	February 13th, 2008, 2:17 pm
Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 251	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
Taxon	February 13th, 2008, 3:08 pm
Site Editor Royse City, TX Posts: 1350	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.
	Best regards, Roger Rohrbeck www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Andyg	February 13th, 2008, 4:26 pm
Eastern Sussex co., NJ Posts: 13	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, 4:38 pm
Moderator Palmyra PA Posts: 3233	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.
	"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'" --Fred Chappell
Shawnny3	February 13th, 2008, 6:55 pm
Moderator Pleasant Gap, PA Posts: 1197	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, 1:57 pm
Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 251	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, 4:34 am
York & Starlight PA Posts: 2733	Anyone who admits to using Green Weenies is also likely to use sucker spawn, glo bugs, and other assorted non aquatic life form flies.
	Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Kroil	March 13th, 2008, 4:50 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, 5:50 am
Alexandria Pa Posts: 362	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
	They fasten red (crimson red) wool around a hook, and fix onto the wool two feathers which grow under a cock’s wattles, and which in colour are like wax. Radcliffe's Fishing from the Earliest Times,
Wbranch	March 13th, 2008, 6:03 am
York & Starlight PA Posts: 2733	Louis knows I'm just teasing him, if he wants to use Green Weenies and other yarn flies go at it!
	Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Kroil	March 13th, 2008, 7:02 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, 2:54 pm
Alexandria Pa Posts: 362	The dry fly fishing has been slow, and I to was looking for a rise:) John
	They fasten red (crimson red) wool around a hook, and fix onto the wool two feathers which grow under a cock’s wattles, and which in colour are like wax. Radcliffe's Fishing from the Earliest Times,
SlateDrake9	March 13th, 2008, 3:14 pm
Potter County, PA Posts: 144	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, 5:14 pm
York & Starlight PA Posts: 2733	Yea, your right all the flies you mentioned have never resided in my fly boxes.
	Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Martinlf	March 13th, 2008, 8:44 pm
Moderator Palmyra PA Posts: 3233	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. :)
	"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'" --Fred Chappell
LittleJ	March 14th, 2008, 10:44 am
Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 251	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, 5:09 pm
Potter County, PA Posts: 144	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, 6:14 pm
York & Starlight PA Posts: 2733	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.
	Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Softhackle	March 15th, 2008, 5:46 am
Site Editor Wellsville, NY Posts: 540	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: http://www.troutnut.com/libstudio/FS&S/index.html
Martinlf	March 15th, 2008, 12:02 pm
Moderator Palmyra PA Posts: 3233	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.
	"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'" --Fred Chappell

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