When I was a youngster the natural hellgrammite was my favorite live bait for smallmouth bass. A hellgrammite is the larva of the dobsonfly. They were easy to seine in large numbers and I caught many bass on them.
After I graduated from pharmacy school I became serious about fly fishing. I purchased every fly that was called “hellgrammite” but none of them caught many bass. I don’t remember catching any bass on the moulded rubber models. Then I ordered some from Abercrombie and Fitch in New York. They were tied well and looked great but the bass wouldn’t take them. During a trout fishing trip to the Yellowstone River I had one of Dan Bailey’s employee tie a dozen of their beautifully woven-body Mossback nymphs on size 4 3X long hooks. My bass back in Edinburg would not take them.
I got into fly tying and attempted to tie my own hellgrammite. No good. The lampshade in my office holds many failures that would not catch bass.
Finally, I went to the river and collected many natural hellgrammites. I dropped them into the river one by one and watched them closely. Each one swam downstream with a strong undulating action as it headed to the streambottom. Right away I saw why all of the flies I had tried earlier had failed to catch bass. Those flies all had rigid bodies and could not duplicate the natural undulating action of the real hellgrammite.
The Making of the Murray’s Hellgrammite
Marabou did not help me because when these flies were fished upstream the marabou collapsed back over the fly in an unnatural manner. Ron Kommer, a good friend, was experimenting with ostrich herl in musky flies and sent me a good supply. He said “Try your hellgrammite with this as the extended body”. By utilizing this and the style tie Charlie Brooks suggested the Murray’s Hellgrammite was developed.
This fly is very effective
- when it is fished upstream dead drift
- when fished up and across stream in a swinging nymph style
- and by swimming it across stream
Today this is my most productive smallmouth in my personal fishing, our smallmouth bass schools, and guide trips.