Hellgrammites !

[mdcrossbow]

Jarrod and I were out catching Hellgrammites yesterday afternoon. I have only seen the rive this low once before.

To hook these buggers you slip the hook under the shield behind the head and use a slit shot about a foot up the line or let them free fall. But you first have to twist the grabbers on the back side like you would a dobbie or they will grab rocks and get you hung up on anything they can grab.

This is an adult Dobsonfly, after 7 years in the water the Hellgrammite leave the water to mate and in a few days will return and lay eggs and die.

We caught about 5 dozen in an hours time. You catch them by turning over the rocks in fast shallow water, they are under in the mud. My spot has not been touch for years. I wiped them out one year and could only catch a dozen in that time. This guy is a 5"er I have a few 6"ers and maybe two of 3 close to 7" when their stretched out. We were getting 7-12 of them at one time.
The Back end has to grabbers that can latch onto anything with a little texture and the front end's are like needles. The shield behind the head is where you slip a hook under. They don't like it much but they don't die from it LOL

 

[mdcrossbow]

This is my son Jarrod. He picked up on the technique

 

[Bambistew]

The river I grew up fishing as with most rivers... has lots of salmon flies similar in size. Very fun time to fish when they are coming to the bank and hatching. Kind of nasty when you have a dozen crawling around on you, but the quality of the fishing usually offsets the creapy crawly feeling.

Thanks for the pictures. What river? Sure has been dry this summer.

 

[mdcrossbow]

I'm on the Potomac River about 17 mi north of DC. It is the lowest I've seen in many years.

But there is one great note to a dry summer , the grapes will be great !