The Beach Bug

THE FLY BOX

The Beach Bug

As tied by Capt. Gavin Platz

I was lucky to meet Nick Curcione in 1996 at the Denver Fly Dealer Show when he was working on the Thomas & Thomas fly rod booth. He was a contributing editor for “Fly Fishing in Saltwaters” and had also authored several books. My two favourites are Baja on Fly and Tug-O-War. Both are great books and definite must haves in your library.

He was a university professor for about 35 years and over time he also became an internationally recognised writer, instructor, lecturer and tackle consultant who worked with some of the biggest companies in fly fishing. Nick Curcione learned his craft while fly fishing with many of the great fly fishers of his time, and his collective experiences with these early experts helped to form the basics of his ideas for the future. In the 80’s and 90’s he developed and wrote about the flies and tactical methods that changed how we all fished inshore and offshore with a fly rod - real pioneering stuff.

You can imagine how privileged I felt in 1996 at the show when he asked if I’d like a little tuning up with my casting. I was a rather agricultural caster at best and to have a “one-on-one” with Nick Curcione was a dream come true. His instruction was very simple, and the benefits to my casting were immediate and I have carried them through till today. That night I was invited to join he and Trey Coombs for a meal of Gator Tails and Cajun Rum, what an honour. At dinner Nick reinforced what others had suggested to me and spurred me on to practise and study to achieve my CCI with the Federation of Fly Fishers, which I was very stoked to eventually achieve.

Nowadays Nick is part of the Temple Fork Outfitters advisory staff and involved in the design of the TFO rods and related products. He is also considered to be the leading authority on shooting heads and heavy sinking lines and is always sharing his knowledge with the whole saltwater community through his writing and presentations at shows.

It’s because of the pioneering work he has done with respect to fly fishing the surf beach, and in fine-tuning the gear necessary for successfully fly fishing the surf beach, that we have all started to reap the rewards and enjoy this very challenging part of the craft a lot more. The more you enjoy something the more you’ll want to do it, and fly fishing the surf beach we can do anywhere, and Australia has some of the best beaches in the world.

Through Nick’s writing we are learning more and more about the place double handed rods have in fly fishing the surf beach, and now quiet a number of us in south east Queensland really look forward to the winter and the miles of empty beaches, giving us a reason to pull out our DH rods and play, all because of Nick’s pioneering work.

So, this brings me to what fly to present in this issue. Probably his most famous fly is the Curcione’s Yellow Catamaran Popper constructed to Nick’s exact recipe and sold by Rainy’s Flies in the USA. A great fly with an awesome action and perfect in both salt and fresh water. But this issue I thought it only proper to do a Curcione pattern which I have used for over 10 years on the Sunshine Coast in both the surf and in the estuary, to great success with our bread and butter species.

The fly is called a Beach Bug. Nick designed this fly to be a caricature of a sand crab with an egg sack underneath it’s body – the primary food source for Perch and Corbina, which Nick regularly chased in the surf.

I found this fly very interesting and started tying the Beach Bug in colours that gave the impression of a saltwater Yabby or Pink Nipper. We all grew up as kids pumping Yabbies with dad and catching all manner of fish on them live, so it was only natural to modify the colours to give the impression of a major food source for our species.

Well I do hope you like this little fly and you tie a few of them. I’m sure you’ll have success and love this fly just as I do. I’d also encourage you to use your own observations of the crabs and prawns in your neck of the woods and to modify the colours to suit your bait source. As a fly tier this is what makes our craft a lot of fun.

I’d like to leave you with one last comment about Nick Curcione, made by Lefty: “He’s ethical and a real pro – loved by all who know him.”

Remember the Beach Bug won’t catch anything while it sits on your tying table. Let’s get in and tie one...

Have fun

Gavin

MATERIALS

Hook - TMC 800S #8, #6 or #4 (I prefer #6) -this is one of my favourite hooks, super strong with very sharp stainless steel. They have outperformed any other brand of hooks to be found in sizes 4-8.

Thread - Flat waxed Nylon (Salmon Pink)

Eyes - Black Nickle Eyes to suit depth

Egg Sac – Bright Orange Chenille

Body – Pearl mylar wrapped over thread

Wing – Bucktail flanked by 2 saddle tips

Step 1 - Lay a bed of thread the length of the shank of the hook and then tie in the eyes about the width of 1.5 hook eyes back from the eye of the hook.

Step 2 - Tie in the chenille to form the egg sac at the bend of the hook.

Step 3 - Tie in the pearl mylar and wrap forward and tie off in front to the eyes.

Step 4 - Tie in a sparse clump of bucktail in front of the eyes and extending no further back than the length of the hook behind the hook bend.

Step 5 - Tie in a saddle tip that is the length of the bucktail.

Step 6 - Finished fly