How to Tie The Glow Bug Fly

Learn how to tie the Glow Bug Fly pattern including step-by-step instructions, a video tutorial, pictures, and much more. Improve your fly tying skills here.

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Whether you're hitting the local stocked trout stream or making the annual trip up to Oak Orchard and the Salmon River, the Glo Bug is a necessary fly anytime eggs are on the menu. The Glo Bug is super easy to tie and you can whip it up in almost any color or colors that you like, and with a Mcfly foam body, this fly has near neutral buoyancy for consistently clean drifts. Fish it in a two-fly rig (where it's legal) or drift it on its own, you can fish this fly with confidence anywhere you end up.

Recipe

• Hook: Daiichi 1130 (size: 12; can be tied sizes 6 through 18)
• Thread: Danville 210 Denier Flat Waxed Thread (color: Fluorescent orange)
• Egg: Mcflyfoam Fly Tying Yarn (color: Steelhead Orange; can be tied in any color you like)
• Blood Dot: Mcflyfoam Fly Tying Yarn (color: Red; can be tied in any color you like)

Step One

Begin the pattern by running the thread below the eye to the bend.

Step Two

We are using orange Mcflyfoam for the Glo Bug’s body. Clip out a clump roughly double the size of a pencil's width, wrap the material 360 degrees around the shank, then clamp down with the thread.

Step Three

For the blood spot, secure a smaller section of red Mcflyfoam on top of the orange fibers.

Step Four

Pull the tied-in material rearward and make several supporting wraps in front of it, then push the fibers forward and crank down on the thread behind the Mcflyfoam.

Step Five

Before trimming the Glo Bug, let's complete the tying process by securing a whip finish below the eye.

Step Six

After clipping the thread, Pull the Mcflyfoam upward, then make a circular cut around the material. The Glo Bug’s round, sphere shape should start to take form.

Step Seven

Before crushing steelhead with the Glo Bug, trim the material’s rough edges so the pattern resembles a small globe.