How to Tie Lightning Bug Fishing Flies

Lightning bugs can become some of the most productive nymphs you add to your arsenal of flies. They work during a hatch and when there is presumably nothing for the fish to eat. Their flash and profile give the fish something both natural and provocative to eat. On top of their acclaimed productivity, they are easy nymphs to tie. In one evening you might very well be able to tie a season's worth of lightning bugs; that is, of course, if they don't become your favorite fly.

Things You'll Need

  • Tiemco 5262, size 12-18
  • Wapsi Uni-thread, 70 denier
  • 1/8-inch gold bead
  • Natural pheasant tail
  • Holographic tinsel
  • Gold wire
  • Peacock herl
  • Flashabou
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Instructions

  1. Tying the Lightning Bug

    • 1

      Begin by placing the gold bead onto the hook and clamping the hook in your vise. Start your thread behind the bead and wrap a thread base rearward around the hook shank until you are directly above the barb of the hook. Next, take four to eight pheasant tail tips and tie them in as tails so that they extend the length of the hook gap beyond the bend of the hook.

    • 2

      Once the fly's tail has been tied on, tie in the gold wire rib and then the holographic tinsel, one on top of the other. Wrap your thread forward until it is 1/8 inch away from the bead. Wrap the holographic tinsel forward until you've reached the thread, covering completely the hook shank. Tie off the tinsel and wrap the gold wire forward four to six times to give both segmentation and durability to the fly. With the tail, ribbing, and body tied in, tie in the flashabou, to be used later as a wing case, so that it extends backwards.

    • 3

      To create a thorax, tie in three to five strands of peacock herl and wrap them forward until you can tie them off directly behind the bead head. Next, tie in three to four pheasant tail tips on each side of the thorax to create legs. Finally, pull the flashabou forward over both the thorax and the wings, and tie it off. Whip finish or add a couple of half-hitches directly behind the bead head to secure the thread, cut it off, and begin fishing.