Who doesn’t love the Bibio? Many anglers here in Ireland swear by the original Bibio and use it almost to the exclusion of other black flies on their trout cast. Of course, such a popular pattern has spawned countless variations, many of which I have detailed in earlier posts. Here is one which can be used throughout the season, the Badger Bibio.
While it can be tied in larger sizes, say up to a size 8 for example, I personally think it is better on smaller hooks and I use sizes 12 and 14 most of the time. Kamasan B175 or the shorter shank B160 are good options, but use whatever hook you prefer. Tying silk is black in 8/0 for preference. The body is dubbed black seal’s fur with the usual dot of red fur in the middle. If I am feeling lazy I move the red part up to the front of the body so that the rear two-thirds is black fur and the front one third is red. I have doubts that the trout will refuse a fly tied like this and it saves a bit of time when tying a batch of these flies.
The body hackle is a badger cock hackle which is palmered down the body and secured by some fine oval silver tinsel. At the head, I tie in a well marked badger hen hackle and give this three turns before whip finishing.
This is a fly which can be improved in my opinion by the addition of small jungle cock eyes. A pair tied in either side of the head hackle gives the fly a really nice ‘midgy’ look. Another useful addition is to finish off the head of the fly with GloBrite no.4 floss. Just whip finish the black tying silk as normal and wrap a few turns of the GloBrite then whip finish that too, before varnishing with clear varnish.
Badger hackles come in a huge range of shades, all the way from glass-like pure white to golden, biscuity coloured ones. I prefer the white ones, but again, you have lots of options to try out simply by using lighter or darker hackles. You can see from the flies here that I like to make my Bibios with long hackles and I am not overly concerned if they look a bit straggly/raggedy/untidy. To my mind this gives the flies a bit of movement and allows the light to play on the hackle fibres.
Just like the original Bibio, its versatility makes it a useful pattern for your box. While its primary role is for use in the early months when the duckfly are hatching, this fly will catch brownies all season long. I’ve never tried it for rainbows but I see no reason why it would not work for them too.
Claretbumbler 