Alright, let me tell you about my go-to foam beetle pattern - this little bugger’s bailed me out more times than I care to admit. Honestly, it’s one of those flies that just works when nothing else will, y’know? And the best part? Even if you’re all thumbs at the vise like my buddy Dave, you can still tie up a decent one in no time.

Now, here’s how I do it: Grab yourself a short shank hook - nothing fancy, just something sturdy. I like to stack a couple layers of foam (black’s my usual, but dark brown’s killer too) and trim ‘em down to about the size of your pinky nail. Superglue that bad boy on good, ‘cause the last thing you want is your beetle doing the backstroke halfway through a drift. That reminds me of this one time on the Madison... anyway, slap some rubber legs on the sides - six total, three per side. I prefer the skinny silicone ones that really dance in the current, though getting the length just right can drive you nuts sometimes.

Here’s a pro tip: If you’re using dark foam, throw a little neon orange or chartreuse foam dot on top. Not too big now - just enough so you can spot it in riffles without scaring the fish. I’ve found trout will absolutely hammer this thing even with the indicator, which kinda surprised me at first.

What’s it imitating? Well... any beetle dumb enough to take a swim, really. But here’s the beauty of it - fish aren’t picky when it comes to terrestrials. They see something dark and juicy struggling on the surface, and it’s like candy to them. I’ve had everything from brookies to smallmouth crush this pattern.

Where to fish it? Anywhere you’d find bugs falling in - under overhanging branches (watch your backcast!), along grassy banks, even near lily pads. Presentation’s key though - just let it plop down gentle-like, maybe give it the occasional twitch to look alive. Last summer on the Yellowstone, I was getting refusals until I started letting it sit dead still between twitches - sometimes they want it playing possum, go figure.

This fly’s saved my bacon on too many tough days to count. Tie up a few in different sizes, keep ‘em in your dry fly box, and thank me later when everything else is getting refused. Just don’t blame me when you start seeing beetles in your sleep!