Little Gray Bastard :-)

[ForumGhillie]

Simple tie for my Glossosoma caddis soft hackle. Also i call it the little gray bastard. For me, the main hatch is at the same time as the Hendrickson hatch. It should be the same thing out East too.

Body: Gray squirrel with silver or gold wire ribbing
Collar: Dark feathers from English partridge (from Steve at Cookshill) Tie the feather in at the tip, not the stem.
Size #16 to #18
Note: Like the old classic spiders, tie the partridge hackle fibers long.

Glossosoma-caddis.jpg (87.86 KiB) Viewed 457 times

Note: the larva is pinkish white and in early Spring trout on freestone streams are looking for them.

[NightWatchman]

Very nice John. Did the name come about when an often heard question stream side was raised during a hatch ? “What are those little grey bastards?”

[ForumGhillie]

No, my dear friend, Eric Peper and I used to joke when someone asked what we caught the trout on... We would hold up a couple of fingers and say: "A little gray bastard about so big."

[DUBBN]

I like this pattern, John.

I have cut back on the amount of soft hackle patterns I carry to the stream, this year. This LGB makes me want to add one more to the fly box. That and I have a Gray Squirrel skin waiting for me when I get home next week. This will be a good pattern to use it on.

Your LGB is a handsome pattern in my opinion, but the sizes in which you use it is what caught my eye.

As the waters of the Roaring Fork, and Colorado rivers start to receive their first hints of snow melt, and as the Caddis start to become active, I am sure this fly will bring some hungry trout to the raft.

[letumgo]

Did you use more than one thread color? Some look like they hade red heads, while others look darker (black?).

Excellent fly John. I will be copying these soon.

[ForumGhillie]

Ray, I tied 4 of them with Veevus hot orange 16/0 thread. I decided to try a hot spot head to see if that made a difference or not.

Supposedly these little Glossosoma caddis skitter across the surface heading to the bank which causes the trout to slash at them.

The larva make the little round pebble huts on the bottom of rocks in the shallows, usually in large colonies.

aquatic-insects-nymphs-larva.jpg (97.39 KiB) Viewed 397 times

[joaniebo]

When I first read the name, I thought someone named a fly after me. Then I realized that the word "Little" couldn't be me!

[Mike62]

Out east? I keep trying that one out but I can't make it work; it doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. It's like me referencing Montana by calling it 'back west'.

Other than that..., the flies are great!

[ForumGhillie]

I was going to tie some more Spring time caddis soft hackle patterns then I looked in my storage fly box...





I guess I don't need anymore for a while.

[Variant]

John,
Looks like you have all the bases covered!
All you need now is some open water.
Well done.

Lou