Tying for grannoms

jayL

jayL

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Jan 2, 2007
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I am planning on fishing the grannoms at least one trip, two if I am lucky.

So far, I have tied a few different patterns, including:

cased larvae (size 12 2xl - not sure if that's right size)

EHC (peacock body, dark hair wing, no hackle) in 12 and 14

Peacock and starling in 12 and 14

Peacock and brown in 12 and 14

Snowshoe caddis in 12 and 14

I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

I think I should have the hatch about covered. I tied them all with and without green egg sacks. If anyone sees a hole in my arsenal, feel free to point it out. I am looking for a few more grannom patterns to add to my box. (Pairing wings sucks, so I will give jonas money for leadwings. :-D)

One question I do have is regarding grannom sparkle pupas. Should I grab some dark colored antron, or is the standard white/beige stuff sufficient?

Anyway, feel free to share your grannom ties or ask your grannom questions here. I think it's time to start getting excited for the first blizzard hatch of the year.
 
Jay

I see you tied some with and without the egg sack, very good thinking. I have seen days on Penns that they would not touch them with the eggs sack, and times thats all they wanted.

JF, had a pattern that he did very well with, I can't remember what it was. Im sure if he reads this he'll let us know, He's the king of the grannoms on Penns!

It won't be long now!

PaulG
 
jayL wrote:
I am planning on fishing the grannoms at least one trip, two if I am lucky.

So far, I have tied a few different patterns, including:

cased larvae (size 12 2xl - not sure if that's right size)

EHC (peacock body, dark hair wing, no hackle) in 12 and 14

Peacock and starling in 12 and 14

Peacock and brown in 12 and 14

Snowshoe caddis in 12 and 14

I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

I think I should have the hatch about covered. I tied them all with and without green egg sacks. If anyone sees a hole in my arsenal, feel free to point it out. I am looking for a few more grannom patterns to add to my box. (Pairing wings sucks, so I will give jonas money for leadwings. :-D)

[color=CC0000]One question I do have is regarding grannom sparkle pupas. Should I grab some dark colored antron, or is the standard white/beige stuff sufficient?[/color]

Anyway, feel free to share your grannom ties or ask your grannom questions here. I think it's time to start getting excited for the first blizzard hatch of the year.
Click to expand...


You really need sparkle yarn for sparkle pupas (ESP and DSPs). I tie a brown & Bright green, Green and brown, and Black.

Here is the tutorial and recipe for the brown & bright green:

http://hipwader.com/2003/emergent-sparkle-pupa
 
I am no expert on this hatch but I would carry #16s as well. You know how that goes when a drop in size for whatever reason seems to do the trick.

As to the ESPs there is the usual controversy about what to use for the veil. Sparkle yarn is what is typically called for, but how important that really is, no idea.
 
DGC wrote:
I am no expert on this hatch but I would carry #16s as well. You know how that goes when a drop in size for whatever reason seems to do the trick.

As to the ESPs there is the usual controversy about what to use for the veil. Sparkle yarn is what is typically called for, but how important that really is, no idea.
Click to expand...


Good advice on tying some 16's.

As far as the ESP & DSP patterns, IMO no other fly has more controversy than this pattern. It's a classic battle of the "haves" and "have-nots", or in this case the "catch" or "catch-nots".

The only thing I can say is I swear by these patterns on a caddis hatch. The common thread I see with guys that get blanked or catch little on it is that it's not tied properly and/or the right material is not used. Very few shops offer these flies both tied properly and with the recommended material. Draw you own conclusions.
 
afishinado wrote:

You really need sparkle yarn for sparkle pupas (ESP and DSPs). I tie a brown & Bright green, Green and brown, and Black.
Click to expand...

You tie all three for the grannoms, or in general? If the latter, which one do you use for the grannom?

I will have to grab some sparkle yarn this week.
 
http://www.paflyfish.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=886&forum=2&post_id=6098#forumpost6098
 
Thanks Tom.

Have you experimented with changing colors on the sparkle yarn, or do you stick with the standard? I am assuming that since the goal is to represent a pupal sheath, that the color wouldn't vary, regardless of the actual color of the bug.
 
sorry Jay I dont want to hijack the thread but I have a question...Afish, when you say you use light and dark patterns are you referring to the sparkle yarn/antron and the underbody? Does the antron bubble match the adult color?...guess i should buy Gary's book...(looks like Jay beat me to it)
 
For the sheath on the light grannoms, I use a golden/olive colored sparkle yarn. For the dark i use slate gray. Sparkle yarn is not that easy to find in a lot of colors. I find these work best of me. I've been looking for black for a while. I probably will end up dying some black on my own. Here is the only place I know of that has sparkle yarn. It's LaFountaine's site which is still in business:

http://www.thebookmailer.com/Supplies/SparkleYarn.html


Oh, and don't worry about buying dubbing for the flies, You can just comb out and cut the sparkle yarn into short 1/8" lengths for dubbing. Tip: When you comb out for the sheath, just save the excess on the comb and use it for dubbing.
 
FlyFisher's Paradise in State College sells sparkle yars in a variety of colors. I'm not sure if it's the correct yarn, but you can call and ask.

http://www.flyfishersparadise.com/index.php
 
out of all the antron i have, i now gotta buy a different one yet...oh cripes....
 
I agree with the size 16s and 14s.

But size 12 is too big, IMHO. I know some of the books say size 12, but from what I've seen they are not nearly that big.

I'm going by the body size of the Grannoms. Their wings are long and extend way back past the end of the body, so the wings make them look like big bugs. But the Grannom body size is not real large.
 
Luckily for me, I have mostly been working on the 14s so far. :-D

I'll limit the 12s and increase the 16s. I suspect you may be right. I like to tie for the occasional freak bug on Penns, so I will bring a 12 or two.
 
jay,

what feathers off the starling did you use to tie the 12s and 14s? I like starling soft hackles, but seems like all the good feathers are for 16s to 20s. Maybe I need a new skin...
 
I didn't do any 12s yet for that pattern. I just checked, and didn't see many feathers that would work well. The 14s are a bit undersized, so I'm kind of in the same boat.

I have some kind of black soft hackle skin that I got on sale at TCO. I honestly have no idea what it is, but I've been using that in place of starling for the larger feathers when needed.
 
By the sounds of it you will be just fine with your original selection. The water will be up and they will be eating anything reasonable. Bottom line..
 
jayL wrote:
Luckily for me, I have mostly been working on the 14s so far. :-D

I'll limit the 12s and increase the 16s. I suspect you may be right. I like to tie for the occasional freak bug on Penns, so I will bring a 12 or two.
Click to expand...

It can't hurt to try a #12. Sometimes the trout will hit flies bigger than the naturals. One of the most skilled fishermen in Centre County said sometimes he uses bigger flies than the naturals, on the theory that the bigger fly is easier to see, and looks like more food, so the trout may hit it in preference to the "normal" size flies. I think that may sometimes work, when the fish are hitting agressively, when they "attacking" rather than "sipping."

But when the trout are getting fussy and selective, many people use flies that are a little smaller than the naturals, on the theory that with smaller flies it is more difficult for the trout to detect a fraud.

I usually try to tie them the same size as the naturals. But I probably get the size wrong a lot. In that case, with a little luck, either of the two theories above may work out for me. :)
 
Just a generality on the size of flies. If you meet two fly anglers on the stream and each offers to help you fish. The first angler opens his fly box and it contains flies all in size 10, 12 and 14, and when the second guy's box is opened he has flies that are size 16, 18, and 20....go with the second angler. ;-)
 
I would be the first angler with the big flies , happily catching trout . The size of the flies between a 12 and a 16 are not as important as other factors , that's my personal take on it.
 
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