Hellgrammite

[Chetty82]

Looking for a hellgrammite pattern had one a couple years ago and my brother-in-law got it snagged. Used ripped the smallies out everywhere now i cant find one like it. Can anyone help me out?

 

[tomgamber]

Black wooly bugger. Or search hellgrammite. I think we just discussed this. But a big black wooly bugger will work great.

 

[Padraic]

You can tye a more realistic pattern than the black or brown wooleybugger, but I am not sure if you can tye a more effective one.

 

[tomgamber]

Here is the other hellgrammite thread.

 

[Chetty82]

I did not know that there was another post of this topic I apologize I should read further into the forums before I post a new one but thank you for the input. I have a black wooly bugger that has green chenille, black maribou tail , black hackle fibers, some sort of crimped copper tail material into the maribou about 8 piecees, and a copper bead head.

 

[tomgamber]

No problem...that's why I pointed it out..

 

[Fishidiot]

Chetty,
Here's my helgy pattern. It's time consuming to tie (like most jointed patterns) but is deadly on clear water smallies. Whether it would really catch more fish than a Wooly Bugger is doubtful. I happen to like realistic flies. I think what makes this fly so good is the shape and color as well as the fact that it has a dumbell eye which allows it to ride hook up reducing snags. Virtually all my streamers and large nymphs that are designed to fish near the bottom are tied with these weights now - they're a wonderful invention.

 

[ryguyfi]

do you use a busted hook for the jointed section, or something else, and how do you connect the two pieces? Just some mono?

 

[tomgamber]

I could be seeing it wrong but it looks like an extended body...Dubbing loop?

 

[ryguyfi]

he did say jointed pattern, and it looks like a hook eye on the butt to me.

 

[tomgamber]

I see what you are looking at but I think that is just the other half of the "V" for the tail. I say this because if he were using just a hook shaft to create this (and he still could be) the eye would be just behind the bend under the dubbing not sticking out the back end.

 

[Fishidiot]

This particular one is tied with a busted, long shank hook. The bend of the hook was at the far right end where the tail strands protrude. The hook was cut off with wire cutters. Sometimes, if I want a very large helgy, I'll leave the hook at the end. The extra hook nails a lot of short striking sunnies (but isn't legal for some SR trout waters). For bass fishing, I find that a single hook gets plenty of fish. Obviously, if you leave a hook at the end of the extended body, you need to ensure that the mono loop system is very strong in order to keep a fish from breaking off the joint. The joint was done with a 40lb mono loop which comes off the shamk of the forward hook and "loops" the eye of the busted trail hook.
I do make some flies like this using wire rather than busting a hook - however the wire has to be pretty sturdy to allow it to be mounted in a vise for tying. In this case, just tie a loop on the end of the wire and seal it with Superglue, and then put the wire in the vise, tie the extended body, then attach the body to the shank of the main hook with another mono loop, then finally complete tying the fly. The wing case is closed cell "razor foam" which I like because its bouyancy helps keep the fly riding hook up.

 

[tomgamber]

thanks for clearing that up...At least I had the direction of the busted hook correct.

 

[Chetty82]

actually orvis has a good hellgramite I might try and get. that way I can get the materials and tie it myself.


http://www.orvis.com/store/productchoice.aspx?pf_id=02JB

 

[flipnfly]

ever try a wooly worm minus the red tag ?