Coffee Bean Beetle

A few weeks ago I came across an article on coffee bean beetles.  I am not a fly tyer by any stretch of the imagination but this intrigued me, primarily because it didn’t really involve tying at all.  Instead it relies on the ability to use a magic marker and some glue – skills that are regularly employed by 5-year olds across the country without incident.

I wandered over to the kitchen cabinet and found a bag of coffee beans.  Poured some into a bowl and picked out the largest round beans that I could find. Took them down to my basement workbench and, using a small file, created a small straight recess on the bottom of the bean for the hook to rest.

Next I used the black magic marker and colored the bottom of the bean.  Set the hook in the recess and epoxied it to the bottom of the bean.  On a couple of the beetles I cut up monofilament (old leader) to make legs.

Once the epoxy dried I turned the beetle over and, using an orange magic marker, colored the back of the bean.  I also left some in the natural bean color as well.

Finally I covered most of the beetle in clear nail polish.  Not only does it add a certain shine, it will help protect the beetle from cracking and water damage.

Done! Now let’s see how they do. Check this out