Jump to content

Hellgrammite trials


MNtransplant

Recommended Posts

Hey everyone,

Hope summer is treating everyone well. I just wanted to share a few fish pics from my past several trips to the James. I've been itching to try out some new hellgrammite plastics and the bite has been a bit different each time....a few weeks ago I found some really quality fish right at dawn in fast riffles on a bigger 5.5" tackle hd helgrammite. One was exceptionally good size for this stretch...at least I thought.

Resized_20230624_053614.thumb.jpeg.b85f6606d7a6e4c05bdc679372342fe5.jpeg

I forgot how much i love fighting smallies!

Got a decent smallie on a whopper plopper that same trip and had 2 goggle eye smash the plopper as well.

Then I had another trip a few days later where the water had come down some and they vacated the faster stuff and were on outside bends and near shade and or wood..caught a mix of large and smallmouth mostly on the smaller nedmite size and caught a few on trusty ned too..

20230701_065007.thumb.jpg.a3f7a32f8ef311fbd765adcfa98eb0b6.jpg20230701_064600.thumb.jpg.f0f74a8c084d53eeca8eb0c1c2554341.jpg

Then this past trip the fish were piled up in the stagnant eddies right next to the fast riffles....caught mostly goggle eye but still a few smallies.

Anyone else have reports for the James this summer? I sold my kayak a few months ago but looking to upgrade to a better fishing setup in the next week or two..would love to do a float with someone who has some knowledge. I can actually contribute to a shuttle now that I got myself a little truck now too!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wreck smallies on a Zman Big TRD paired up with an EWG weedless ned style jighead. I'm assuming it resembles a hellgramite. One thing I know for sure is that there isn't another bait out there that will outlast a ZMAN product, which is my favorite quality about them. Basically lasts until I break it off. Buy jigheads and baits at a 1:1 ratio.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Seth said:

I wreck smallies on a Zman Big TRD paired up with an EWG weedless ned style jighead. I'm assuming it resembles a hellgramite. One thing I know for sure is that there isn't another bait out there that will outlast a ZMAN product, which is my favorite quality about them. Basically lasts until I break it off. Buy jigheads and baits at a 1:1 ratio.

100% agree on Zman stuff. Put a dot of super glue between the plastic and the head and you're good until you break off. I have caught a fair amount of fish on the standard TRDs here lately. I may have to try the bigger size.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

I’ve got some of those ready to go on a trip tomorrow! They’re pretty excited. 

LOL don’t let them bite you! 😂 Good Luck tomorrow!!

A guy caught a walleye on one today

IMG_5717.jpeg

IMG_5718.jpeg

"Honor is a man's gift to himself" Rob Roy McGregor

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/6/2023 at 5:49 PM, MNtransplant said:

Hey everyone,

Hope summer is treating everyone well. I just wanted to share a few fish pics from my past several trips to the James. I've been itching to try out some new hellgrammite plastics and the bite has been a bit different each time....a few weeks ago I found some really quality fish right at dawn in fast riffles on a bigger 5.5" tackle hd helgrammite. One was exceptionally good size for this stretch...at least I thought.

Resized_20230624_053614.thumb.jpeg.b85f6606d7a6e4c05bdc679372342fe5.jpeg

I forgot how much i love fighting smallies!

Got a decent smallie on a whopper plopper that same trip and had 2 goggle eye smash the plopper as well.

Then I had another trip a few days later where the water had come down some and they vacated the faster stuff and were on outside bends and near shade and or wood..caught a mix of large and smallmouth mostly on the smaller nedmite size and caught a few on trusty ned too..

20230701_065007.thumb.jpg.a3f7a32f8ef311fbd765adcfa98eb0b6.jpg20230701_064600.thumb.jpg.f0f74a8c084d53eeca8eb0c1c2554341.jpg

Then this past trip the fish were piled up in the stagnant eddies right next to the fast riffles....caught mostly goggle eye but still a few smallies.

Anyone else have reports for the James this summer? I sold my kayak a few months ago but looking to upgrade to a better fishing setup in the next week or two..would love to do a float with someone who has some knowledge. I can actually contribute to a shuttle now that I got myself a little truck now too!

 

I did a trip on the lower James yesterday. Caught more than I could count. Nothing huge but enough 12-14 inchers to make  it a blast. Best baits were a Hellgrammite imitation in the fast stuff and a swim bait in between. Below Hootentown is beautiful. IMG_0714.thumb.jpeg.f02afbb34f7b4396516440a8bb2a9516.jpegIMG_0718.thumb.jpeg.d4aa48f04ef0021b6a2032830555412b.jpegIMG_0721.thumb.jpeg.461703e0ba3f682ae53e311bc538f89b.jpegIMG_0712.thumb.jpeg.498027a2444e6d86cff6c0df04534396.jpeg 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/7/2023 at 11:16 AM, Seth said:

I wreck smallies on a Zman Big TRD paired up with an EWG weedless ned style jighead. I'm assuming it resembles a hellgramite. One thing I know for sure is that there isn't another bait out there that will outlast a ZMAN product, which is my favorite quality about them. Basically lasts until I break it off. Buy jigheads and baits at a 1:1 ratio.

Seth

Are these the ned heads on an offset ewg worm hook? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/19/2023 at 8:51 AM, Gumboot said:

Seth

Are these the ned heads on an offset ewg worm hook? 

Yes. Search weedless ned on Tacklewarehouse and you'll see quite a few show up.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=30&prevsearch=flatland&searchtext=weedless+ned

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.