Tie Talk: Tying the Banksia Bug (Step-by-Step Photos)

Here's another sweet little bug from our friends at flyrecipes.com. It's called the Banksia Bug (formerly known as the Patchouli Pupa) and was created by my friend and warm water fly fishing guru Jay Zimmerman.

"I began tying this fly to imitate the masses of free-living caddis larva in all my home waters here in Colorado and elsewhere in trout streams all over the West. 

I have rarely found good commercially available flies that can fill this niche. Its a very productive fly  because this particular caddis larva is a notoriously poor swimmer, often getting swept away in the current, making it an easily recognizable food organism and makes up a large portion of a trouts diet," says Jay.

"I have found this pattern to work well in rivers with an abundance of small to medium-size stonefly nymphs leading me to believe my fly is suggestive enough for trout to mistake it for any number of long-bodied aquatic insects as well. With this in mind, I am now using this fly in lakes with equal success! I was hoping it could double as a case maker caddis larva, but have found it works exceptionally well in lakes with a lot of active damselflies."

You can purchase the fly at your favorite fly shop that carries the ump qua brand or follow these instructions and tie it yourself.