| The Ultimate Hellgrammite
The Hellgrammite, the aquatic larval form of the menacing Dobson Fly, is a very productive bait for bass and trout but as a fly pattern it is often neglected. When you do see them tied its is often very small when compared to a mature larva which can reach sizes of 4" in length. The best all around size for this pattern is #6 on the Daiichi 2340 Streamer hook which is a 6X Long model. Rubber legs are used to imitate the fleshy appendages that protrude from the sides of the natural larva and Bugskin has the perfect texture and sheen to imitate the "shell" of a true hellgrammite. This fly has fooled trout ranging from 7" Brookies to Monster Browns and though I've never used it for Steelhead I'm sur it would hook a few of those as well. |
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| Using a pair of pliers, grasp the hook by the bend and make a few light bends in the hook to give it some curvature. Place a bead on the hook backwards so that the counter drilled side is facing toward the eye of the hook. |
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| Tie on some rubber legs as pincers, apply some head cement, and slide the bead up. Pretty cool huh? When done right the bead will go al the way to the front without squeezing the pincers together. |
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| Advance your thread to the back and tie in some tails. |
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| Tie in a strip of .025 non-toxic wire or 30-50lb monofilament along each side of the hook shank to widen the body out. |
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| Tie in a strip of Bugskin about 1/4-3/8" wide and a piece of Medium Black Ultra Wire about 4" long. |
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| Tie in 5-7 rubber legs with figure eight wraps as shown in the photo. If you can do it without difficulty, tie the rubber legs in on the underside of the body instead of the top. |
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| Advance your thread to the back of the hook again and dub forward to make your unberbody. |
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| Pull the Bugskin forward and tie off, then rib the thorax with the Ultra Wire to create segments. Trim the rubber legs so that they get progressively smaller as you get toward the back of the thorax. |
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| Fold the Bugskin back and tie in a saddle hackle. Moisten your fingers and stroke the fibers back taking care not to break the hackle. Before wrapping the hackle bulid a big abdomen with your dubbing. Wrap the hackle and tie off. |
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| Pull the Bugskin over top of the abdomen to create the wingcase. Tie off and hit it with some head cement. Go look for some big fish. |
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