Gulper Special

Gulper Special

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Hook	TMC 100, #14-18
Thread	Uni-thread Gray 8/0
Body	Callibaetis Superfine
Thorax	Callibaetis Superfine
Tail	Grizzly Spade Hackle fibers
Wingpost	White Poly Yarn
Hackle	Grizzly

Al Troth

Gulper Special

Al Troth of Dillon, Montana came up with the Gulper Special in 1971 while fishing the callibaetis hatch on Hebgen Lake in southwest Montana. The term “Gulper” comes from the large rainbows and browns which would cruise the surface of the lake gulping down large quantities of tricos, callibaetis, and midges. The sound of the gulp would resonate across the lake. This pattern differs from earlier parachutes in that Al chose to use white or gray Poly Yarn for the wing post. This material has a number of advantages over calf tail or feather wings. It repels water so that the fly will float longer.

It can be used successfully for smaller mayflies, such as tricos and callibaetis, since the poly yarn provides less bulk to the fly. Since the material comes in different colors, Al also experimented with color choice so that light colors would be used against dark backdrops or dark colors would be used to improve the silhouette on flat water conditions. Al preferred to tie his Gulpers with a hackle that was one size smaller than the hook and tied his original pattern with dark brown Beaver dubbing. Today, most Gulper patterns use a tan dubbing color for the Callibaetis and an olive color for the Tricos in sizes 20-24.

Gulper Olive, Trico

Hook	TMC 100, sizes 20-24
Thread	Veevus 16/0 Brown
Body	Olive Brown Superfine
Thorax	Olive Brown Superfine
Tail	Medium Dun Spade Hackles
Wingpost	White Poly Yarn
Hackle	Grizzly