The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

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Flex Bloodworm

Insect Species Icon Annelid
Difficulty Icon Easy - 1-3 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater, Warmwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Curved nymph hook 2x long 2x wide
  • Bead: Tungsten bead 3mm copper
  • Thread: UTC 70 denier red
  • Body: Thread body
  • Rib: UTC Ultra wire small red
  • Glue: Clear UV resin thin
  • Wing-pads: Flexifloss red
  • Thorax: Thread with clear UV resin thin
  • Hook: Any curved hook will work here. Octopus hooks make great annelids.
  • Bead: Tungsten or brass beads will work, depending on how heavy of a fly you want. Try to keep to either copper or red beads.
  • Thread: Any thin to medium diameter thread will work. Go as thin as you are comfortable with, but try not to go thicker than 6/0 or 140 denier
  • Body: Thread body
  • Rib: Use any small round red or black wire.
  • Glue: Thicker head cement will work fine, just be aware of the longer cure time.
  • Wing-pads: feel free to take this step completely out. However, any small round rubber legs will work.
  • Thorax: Thread head.

Since this is such a simple fly with few materials, there is not much you can do with it other than a few things. Consider getting some red marabou for a small tail off the end for a bit of movement! Another thing is you don’t really need the thorax of this fly, this may shave some time off the vice so you can really get a few of them done. For a little bit of contrast along the body, use some black thread for some good segmentation.

Have you ever met a fish that doesn’t eat worms? Me neither. This fly is a super simple bloodworm/annelid pattern that will fish all day long. Since there is not much going on as far as materials and appendages, this fly will fish consistently until the dark day that it is lost. Good thing it is a cheap and simple fly, so hopefully that wont hurt as much as loosing that 2 hour streamer you worked on.

If fishing this fly in rivers, use this as your tag fly since it is a little bit lighter than most weighted worm patterns. If you are euro nymphing or fishing under an indicator, this can be a great second fly in murky water. Since it is lighter it can be fished easily underneath a large parachute or terrestrial patterns. If fishing this in still waters, consider using this as your first fly under your indicator, with the tag tied off of the eye of the fly instead of the bend of the hook. This will allow the fly to hang more parallel to the bottom than perpendicular. Use a heavily weighted nymph for the tag fly that will hang closer to the bottom.

Annelid

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, East, Southeast, Midwest
Annelid
Sizes: #10 - #16

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