Matt’s Buzzer Pattern & Tying Instructions
Fly Tying Recipe:
Matt’s Buzzer
Show / Hide Matt’s Buzzer Transcript Video Transcript:
Author, fly tier and blogger Matt Grobert came up with this midge/pupa pattern, that he calls “Matt’s Buzzer”, while fishing on the Missouri River almost 20 years ago. Since then, the pattern has produced, well, just about everywhere including here in the East. And it doesn’t have to be super small either, anything from an 18 all the way up to a 12 will work.
Here Matt’s going to tie one on a Dai-Riki #135 scud/pupa hook in a size 16. Matt begins by placing a 1/16” tungsten bead over the hook point, small hole first, and securing the hook in his tying vise.
He then loads a bobbin with a spool of 3/0 fluorescent chartreuse Danville. Start your thread on the hook shank immediately behind the bead and take wraps rearward before snipping off the tag. Continue taking thread wraps well down into the hook bend.
For segmentation, snip a single strand of pearl Krystal flash free from the hank. Lay one end of the flash against the near side of the hook and take thread wraps to secure it. Continue taking even, touching thread wraps all the way up the hook shank to form a nice, smooth body. End with your thread at the back edge of the bead.
Then, load a bobbin with a spool of finer olive 6/0 Danville. Start taking wraps behind the bead, making sure to wrap over the chartreuse thread in the process. Next, carefully snip the tag end of the 6/0 off close and then cut free the chartreuse thread.
Get hold of the Krystal flash and start making open spiral wraps up the hook shank to segment the body. When you reach your tying thread, secure the flash with a few tight turns and snip the excess material off close. Snip a scant 1/8” wide segment from a mallard primary feather that’s been dyed red. You can also use a short length of red floss or flexi-floss if you like. Lay the tip end against the near side of the hook and take a few thread wraps to secure it. Then, snip another quill segment the same width as the first and lay it against the far side of the hook, then secure it with thread wraps. Build up the thorax a bit with wraps of tying thread, going all the way back to above the hook point. When you’re satisfied with the size of the thorax, pull the near side feather segment forward and secure it with a couple wraps at the back edge of the bead. Next, do the same with the far side. Take a single wrap in front of both segments, but behind the bead, and then snip the excess off close.
Do a 3 or 4 turn whip finish to secure your tying thread and cover the butt ends of red feather in the process. Then snip or cut your tying thread free.
At this point, you can coat everything with clear Sally Hansen’s or even head cement. Matt, however, is going to use UV cure resin. A small drop is all you need. Work the material around to completely encapsulate the body of the fly. Once you’re happy with how it looks, give the entire fly a healthy shot of UV light to cure it. In just a few seconds the coating should be hard and tack-free to the touch.
Matt also ties them with black or dark olive abdomens. And that’s Matt’s Buzzer, definitely give them a try, even in the wintertime.
Here Matt’s going to tie one on a Dai-Riki #135 scud/pupa hook in a size 16. Matt begins by placing a 1/16” tungsten bead over the hook point, small hole first, and securing the hook in his tying vise.
He then loads a bobbin with a spool of 3/0 fluorescent chartreuse Danville. Start your thread on the hook shank immediately behind the bead and take wraps rearward before snipping off the tag. Continue taking thread wraps well down into the hook bend.
For segmentation, snip a single strand of pearl Krystal flash free from the hank. Lay one end of the flash against the near side of the hook and take thread wraps to secure it. Continue taking even, touching thread wraps all the way up the hook shank to form a nice, smooth body. End with your thread at the back edge of the bead.
Then, load a bobbin with a spool of finer olive 6/0 Danville. Start taking wraps behind the bead, making sure to wrap over the chartreuse thread in the process. Next, carefully snip the tag end of the 6/0 off close and then cut free the chartreuse thread.
Get hold of the Krystal flash and start making open spiral wraps up the hook shank to segment the body. When you reach your tying thread, secure the flash with a few tight turns and snip the excess material off close. Snip a scant 1/8” wide segment from a mallard primary feather that’s been dyed red. You can also use a short length of red floss or flexi-floss if you like. Lay the tip end against the near side of the hook and take a few thread wraps to secure it. Then, snip another quill segment the same width as the first and lay it against the far side of the hook, then secure it with thread wraps. Build up the thorax a bit with wraps of tying thread, going all the way back to above the hook point. When you’re satisfied with the size of the thorax, pull the near side feather segment forward and secure it with a couple wraps at the back edge of the bead. Next, do the same with the far side. Take a single wrap in front of both segments, but behind the bead, and then snip the excess off close.
Do a 3 or 4 turn whip finish to secure your tying thread and cover the butt ends of red feather in the process. Then snip or cut your tying thread free.
At this point, you can coat everything with clear Sally Hansen’s or even head cement. Matt, however, is going to use UV cure resin. A small drop is all you need. Work the material around to completely encapsulate the body of the fly. Once you’re happy with how it looks, give the entire fly a healthy shot of UV light to cure it. In just a few seconds the coating should be hard and tack-free to the touch.
Matt also ties them with black or dark olive abdomens. And that’s Matt’s Buzzer, definitely give them a try, even in the wintertime.
More Fly Tying Videos
