Aaron decided to tie one of the flies from our Fly of the Week Archives. As you can see it is an excellent example of the pattern that works so well on the Goulburn throughout the warmer months. Perfectly tied with the correct materials click on the photo to go to his page which includes notes from Aaron about fishing it as well as the tying details.

This beetle pattern has the perfect beetle shape as well as good general colouration. The use of a foam wingcase aids in the flotation of the fly, a very important feature of most terrestrial patterns. The clever use of synthetic material at the rear of the fly gives just that extra bit of sparkle that can either act as an attractor or imitate the wing tips of the bug.

A classic pattern that has been around for over a century in some form or another. Easy to tie needing a minimum of materials and skills it will so often take fish when nothing else will. A gold tag and peacock herl body finished with a red hackle are combined to make one of the must have flies, regardless of where you fish. Definitely a favourite of ours.

This fly loosely called a Styx Special is just a combination of beetle patterns. Peacock herl, gold wire rib, palmered hackle over a peacock herl body and a short hackle point tail. It floats like a cork, has the correct profile and colour to be suggestive of dozens of beetles. Especially good in alpine streams in high summer.

The Great Lake Beetle has been around for a while and you can see why. A body of deer hair aids floatation as well as attracting fish in its own right. This trimmed to shape beetle pattern with a bit of orange in the wing and hackle that imitates the underwing of several type of beetles is at times a real killer.

A classic Western attractor pattern. Suggestive of many types of insect with its readily identifiable body of floss and deer hair and upright divided white wings. Can be seen as a beetle, Emerging Caddis (and no we haven't gone mad!) or even a big Mayfly dun. An excellent pattern that is home in the roughest of water. Great on the South Island too.

An interesting tie using some new age materials and some tried and tested designs. A red tag, dubbed body of sparkling synthetic materials that create the illusion of life tied on a cured hook with an interesting choice of hackle colours. Needless to day we will be copying this one as well.

Nick doesn't tie flies but saw something missing from our selection of patterns for this swap the other day while in the shop. No Gum Beetles! He promptly opened his box and supplied some courtesy of Tasmanian tier Bruce Gibson. You can't have a beetle swap without a gummy! So here it is, the best gum beetle imitation available.

An attractive looking combination of materials. An orange hackle, Peacock herl body and Yellow Foam tail. Hardly able to described as an imitative pattern it has attractor written all over it. Floats well and is quick and easy to tie. Paul says if you remove the barb it is extremely durable and should catch many fish. Great on small creeks.

Rod always comes up with something a little different. Although many beetle patterns make use of foam this one doesn't use it in the normal way. Such patterns are hard to make float and it would seem that much testing and returns to the vice have been worthwhile. The fluoro paint is a great visual aid as small black flies are easily lost on the water.