27 thoughts on “Fly Tying: Utah Killer Bug

  1. ZugbugPete says:

    No affiliation, besides being a thrilled repeat customer, but I make the trek from PA to Eld' Bros every summer! Ok, so we vacation in Maine every summer, so that helps… but Eldridge Brothers is an excellent, well-stocked shop! Plus, there is a sweets / chocolate shop in the left hand side of the same building, to keep the better half happy while you spend all of your bank account on tying supplies! Well stocked shop, highly recommended – if you're ever in their neck of the woods stop by.

  2. SST Flies says:

    Well done Tim. As you know, the UKB is a variation of Frank Sawyer's original. What many of your viewers may not is the original Killer Bug was tied with Chadwick 477 which hasn't been available for many years. The price of a single card of this wool commands big bucks and a gun safe in the house! There has been a lot of attempts at recreating the exact coloration and a few companies have came extremely close. Two that come to immediate mind is Jamieson and Semperfli

  3. David R Bellairs says:

    Just this morning ordered a ball Of Shetland Spindrift to tie up some of these. I did see another tier state that he uses pink thread because it shows through the wool when it gets wet and enhances the colour. I'll try both methods and let the fish decide! Thanks Tim!

  4. Frank Cada says:

    I tie something very similar using "Sparkle Yarn" and a brown marabou head. I think it represents a caddis larvae. It is a killer in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado also. The fly should maybe be renamed Rocky Mountain Killer Bug?

  5. Bozzel says:

    Thanks for the video. I use the stiffer Keiryu rods and I used a UKB and a UKB with a hotspot on the Jordan River in Michigan last weekend. Drifted the whole pool without a hotspot and got one. Drifted the same pool with the hotspot and got four. YMMV but it's hotspots for me from now on. 😉

  6. troutbum61 says:

    It would appear several viewers have raised concerns, regarding the origins of this pattern in the "Comments" section. That said, I'd like to invite viewers to review the Tenkara Guides comment below (Utah Killer Bug/Tenkara Guides). , and to the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd_quJxzSI4) ERiK posted two years prior. Not only because I live in Salt Lake City, but also because I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Don't get me wrong. This is a great pattern, and I do enjoy seeing variations, but each time I watch your video, it bothers me that you mention your buddy, "Tom" a dozen times, but not Frank Sawyer, the creator of the original Killer Bug or Tenkara Guides, who spent many hours updating the original to the Utah Killer Bug.

  7. rewolfe333 says:

    Tim, you mentioned that you're from Pa, Wondering if we've met…Spring Creek in State College, Fishing Creek in Benton, Little Lehigh- Allentown,Bowmans creek , Lehigh River near White Haven,.Broadhead Creek & McMichaels near Tannersville or my homewater Harveys Creek near Dallas, Pa.?  Bob

  8. Alan Luecke says:

    The Utah Killer Bug was developed by the Tenkara Guides LLC in Salt Lake and is a variation of the Killer Bug by Frank Sawyer as interpreted by Chris Steward of Tenkarabum.com who reintroduced it using the Shetland-Spendrift yarn.

  9. termite122 says:

    if i could use only one fly the rest of my life it would be a crane fly larvae..just stupid how well this ball of yarn works..i tie my hotspot in the rear..and it seems to me the hotspot version always works a bit better..so much easier to apply lead with a bobbin..i also use the same yarn and i put a few feet of it on an empty thread spool and use a bobbin,,makes it easy to apply and twist the yarn..have you ever put on your lead over a thread base? it will not move and makes life easier..a few tricks ive learned in my 30 years as a tyer.i also have spit the yarn in half and then you can whip finish or just half hitch the yarn and not even use thread..happy tying.

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