I’ve googled it without any sucess.
Does anybody know pattern imitating Mealworm or Superworm?
(LOL) Funny you should mention this, my buddy just asked me that same question two days ago. The answer is yes! Before I give you the pattern the answer to the next question of " Do they work? " is also yes. Very simple pattern and people might frwon on this but all that matters is is it works. Here you go.
Hook: 3x - 4x long sizes 8 -14
Thread: rusty brown or orange 6/0
Body: a tan rubber band!
Legs: two turns of a brown hackle clipped short
Head: thread.
Also, to give it a little more realism I use a orange marker an the back to darken it a little, and I’ll sometimes bend the hook slightly up(bend eye away from the bend a little) wich gives it an apperance of moving in the water.
I tried these patterns last spring during our trout season and caught a lot of trout and a lot of panfish on them. Hope they work for you as well if you try them. Good luck,Dave
I don’t know what a superworm is but a good mealworm imitation is a tan GRHE.
Rubber band nymph would work
tan or light yellow chenille would work
latex nymph would work
http://angler-online.anglerwebs.de/Lugg … _Nymph.htm
an all tan Czech nymph would work
Here, I just tied one up and took a couple of pics of it. Yes all those nymphs Normand mentioned are also great patterns, also you can just sunstitute the rubber band with chamoise or buck skin.
i tie a few waxworm flies for the panfish! i just wrap a rubberband up the hook shank one layer and that it!
Hey cool trick if you haven’t tried it is put a thin coat of hard head on that rubber-band fly and it will grotesquely like it is all slimy or waxy gives it a whole new dimension. I tie one very similar to the Latex nymph that Normand posted only with a rubber band and it creeps my wife out when I leave them hanging to dry. BTW this is a killer trout fly in the early spring and I tied a bunch up for my uncle with a big bead head and he used them as an ice jig and said the work phenomenally.
Steve
Mealworm, Waxworm, Grub, Maggot, etc. How about Joe Cornwall’s Irony :D?
Do mealworms appear naturally in the water someplace?
I was under the impression that they were not an aquatic insect.
Learn something new everyday…
Good Luck!
Buddy
Buddy,
I hope to add a set of flies by a Belgian tier to Flytier’s Page before too long. Consider this a preview 
The person is Jef de Mayer, and here is his Mealworm imitation.
Mealworm
Hook: TMC 2457
Size: 10 / 14
Tread: Brown 6/0
Rib: Thread
Body: Brownish extra fine chenille
Thorax: Black seal
Cheers,
Hans W
They appear “naturally” in the water on Opening Day in Pennsylvania; along with corn, wax worms, garden worms, and Power Bait.
Personally I never did that great with “bait” imitations when I used to do the Opening day ritual. A GRHE nymph always did the trick.
Buddy,
Mealworms are not an aquatic insect at all. They’ve just become a popular bait for fishing. They may, however,
end up dropping into streams from dead trees or leaf-lined shores along
streams and lakes. If you’d like more info on them visit here…
http://insected.arizona.edu/mealinfo.htm
I’ve caught lots of bluegills and such on mealworms when I was a kid.
I’m just not sure as to ‘why’ there would be an interest in tying a fly that imitates them (except for the obvius ‘because it’s a challenge’, THAT I get…).
Are ‘bait’ fishermen using real mealworms really doing better at catching fish than a fly fisherman using ‘standard’ fly patterns?
I guess I’m just wondering about how effective it could really be, compared to that GRHE or Prince, or even a simple little Czech…
Thanks,
Buddy
My kids deaddrift mealworms in Pa. and do very well. As far as out fishing someone using nymphs and dries depends on the patterns being used by the fly fisherman. Once I find whats working even my oldest doesn’t keep up but it’s easy for him to use a spinning rod in alot of the tight places and they have a ball.
I’ve heard that the mealworms and grubs get into the water by drifting out on dead pieces of bark, and rotted wood. Inch worms are similar looking to mealworms, but of course the inch worms are green. They fall into the water off tree branches.
My uncle usedto make a meal worm pattern that hes told me about. He said It was the hollow stem of a small quill feather tied on the hook. I’ve never seen one of his but he said that they worked good. He said that they floated near the surface.
A presumption here is that a GRHE/Prince/Czech is a closer immitation to something that the trout naturally eat. Other than fly fishers, I doubt that anyone else would confuse these patterns with a natural.
A second presumption is that the effectiveness of a pattern is related to its immitative characteristics, as evaluted by the fly fisher (and not the fish). I ask ya, what does a spinnerbait immitate?
And lastly, those “mealworm” patterns seem like the plentiful aquatic worms or crane fly larva.
i make a waxie prety easy pattern
caddis hook bent shank
weight hook with lead wire
thread black or brown 6/0
body cream colerd yarn
wrap thread to rear of hook tie in yarn
wrap thread to front
wrap yarn to front make a head
then i took a lighter over the body to singe it slightly . and remove the fuzzynes
you could probly use a marker to color it further .
or rib it with thread .
Frank,
Actually, what I was referring to about the Czech Nymph, is that the ones I tie in tan look almost exactly like a meal worm.
I know these catch fish. I ‘think’, but I’m not sure, that they were designed to imitate a caddis, but they do ‘look’ like a meal worm.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Buddy,
Understood, but its like a Senko: its a plastic worm but not a plastic worm. A Czech nymph may be similar to a mealworm. A mealworm pattern may be similar to a real mealworm in a different way such that it is not similar to a Czech nymph… does that make sense? :lol: :lol:
Perhaps that mealworm pattern is also similar to a crane fly larva or embodies other triggers such that overall, it is more effective than a Czech nymph. I actually think Czech nymphs are hugely overrated and their effectiveness is due to those great hooks and the questionable methods of fishing them.
In any event, I’ve had great success with white or off-white patterns such as the okey-dokey or mini/micro leeches. Here is a #10 tied with a semi-translucent pearl rubber band and thickly coated with varnish:
You can also tie one using cut up strips from a Dr.'s rubber glove that is easier to use than a rubberband.