Adult grannoms have a black charcoal body with tannish mottled wings and range from size 14 to 16. Unlike a majority of bugs that hatch in the East during the spring, grannoms begin hatching in the morning.
CDC Elk Hair Caddis with black charcoal bodies are a good starting point for dry flies. As far as subsurface, peacock soft hackles are one of my favorite flies to fish underneath.
There are plenty of flies in the HomeWaters Fly Shop that will fit the needs of the grannom hatch, including some specially tied flies by some of our guides. If you will be hitting the water, stop to see Joel, so he can help you pick out flies.
Caddis flutter across the surface of the water while they try to lay their eggs. Should you find yourself struggling to catch fish that are rising, try skittering your dry fly across the surface of the water. There are times when the trout will key on moving flies specifically.
The grannoms are arguably one of the the best hatches on the Little J and one of my favorites to fish. It’s always exciting to see signs of what is usually considered the first “major” hatch of spring.
The grannoms should be in full swing this week. Having some of this information tucked in the back of your mind will help make your time on the water more successful. Enjoy!
Kyle–as you know I’m really a novice when it comes to the bugs our finned friends feed on. But I hope to work on that.
So when I look in caucci and nastasi’s Hatches II book I don’t see anything about grannoms. So what the hell are they and are they so specific to our streams that the Hatches II bible doesn’t mention them?
I take it from recommended fly pattern and some quick internet searching that grannoms are a caddis. But maybe there’s more that you could tell us about them. Don’t get real scientific with Latin names. Just tell us what they are, what is distinctive about them, how to recognize them easily by the way they fly or whatever.
See you at the tavern soon.
Hi Dave,
Grannoms hatch around this time of year in April here in Pennsylvania, and can be found in many of the streams in Pennsylvania. The Little J has a large reputation for Grannoms due to it having so many of them. The short story is a Grannom is a blackish grey caddis in sizes 14 and 16. I’m not sure why they would not be in his book, other than the fact that there are over a thousand species of caddis in North American. They also be might named differently as I have heard people refer to “Mother’s Day Caddis” out west as a “western grannom”.
Here is a link from Orvis about The American Grannom. I think it should have all the information you might need and a few good photographs as well.
I look forward to seeing you soon!