First Try At A Hellgrammite

[trizkid]

first try, let me know what you think

black chenille wrapped for the body

2mm black foam on top

black biots

mayfly wing cutter to get the right shape for the mandibles

sry about image size i dont have the time to mess with it right now

[Randall]

It looks good. I do have a few suggestions though.

Foam floats, I'm curious how this fly will fish, especially with the big foam mandibles.

I would use maybe swiss straw or some other non-floating back and maybe rubber legs for the mandibles. Other than that, the shape, legs, and tails look great.

Here is a picture of an actual hellagramite: http://www.troutnut.com/im_regspec/picture_1255_small.jpg

[eric1978]

Foam floats, I'm curious how this fly will fish

I didn't want to be the one to say it, but he's right. It looks like a hellgrammite, but if it ain't on the bottom of the stream, it's probably not gonna do you much good. Looks nice, though. Just try some different materials.

[flytyer57]

Make things a little easier on yourself. Unless you are trying to tie up some realistic flies, try wrapping a hackle for the legs, or tie in some rubber strands for legs. You could also use some lead or lead substitute wrapped along the body to help it get to the bottom.

Here's link to how Harry Murray ties his helgramites. Simple and effective.

Tying Murray's Hellgrammitte

[trizkid]

thanks for your suggestions guys, i wanted to used black swiss staw had none on hand, and the rubber legs would make it a lot easier to tie, had no black left though. i did forget to mention i did wrap under the chenille with .25 lead wire

[Flysmallie]

lots of flies made with foam are designed to sink. You just have to use a little weight to get it down. Not an issue.

Foam flies like the Gartside Gurgler and Crease fly were actually designed to be used subsurface, and they work really well for that if you know how to do it.

[flytyer57]

Foam flies like the Gartside Gurgler and Crease fly were actually designed to be used subsurface

I didn't know that.

I thought they were designed as topwater flies. I guess no matter how long you've been tying or fly fishing, you still learn something new every day.

[Randall]

Make things a little easier on yourself. Unless you are trying to tie up some realistic flies, try wrapping a hackle for the legs, or tie in some rubber strands for legs. You could also use some lead or lead substitute wrapped along the body to help it get to the bottom.

Here's link to how Harry Murray ties his helgramites. Simple and effective.

Tying Murray's Hellgrammitte

I've seen an article about that pattern but I lost it, thanks for the post.

How necessary is the herl over say marabou? I'm sure there's a reason he uses herl, just curious if anybody knows.

[Jeremy Hunt]

I've seen an article about that pattern but I lost it, thanks for the post.

How necessary is the herl over say marabou? I'm sure there's a reason he uses herl, just curious if anybody knows.

Hey Randall,

Back then, this is how tiers would tie in tails. A lot of people still believe in this way of tying verses marabou. I've went back to this method on a lot of my streamers. Try it out my friend. It does have alot of motion in the water.