grampus n
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3 also crampuss, grampas, black grampus, flying ~, water ~: = hellgrammite n 1. chiefly sAppalachians
1877 Sunbury Gaz. (PA) [14 Sept 4]/1, What Mr. Scott terms the “Algomite,” is named by many of our fishermen as “Helgamite,” “Hojack,” “Nipper” and “Crampuss.” 1882 Amer. Angler (Ed. Harris) 2.53 ceNJ, We sum up—Corydalis cornutus, is his baptismal scientific name, but he is also called: . . Water Grampus [at] Lambertville, N . J. 1884 Harris Angler’s Guide 155 wNC, At times the helgramite (local name “grampus”) is killing for b[lack] b[ass], for the abundance of which the East Fork of the Pigeon r. is noted. 1917 Kephart Camping & Woodcraft 2.411, One of the best natural baits for bass, when the water is clear, is that fierce-looking creature called hellgrammite, dobson, or grampus. 1933 Knoxville Jrl. (TN) 17 Sept sec B 3/5, His [=the speckled trout’s] food and habits are practically the same as the rainbow. Insects of all kinds, grampases, spring lizzards, craws, minnows and almost any moving object in the water will be struck at once. 1945 Elizabethton Daily Star (TN) 13 July 5/4, Joe Brooks got out early Saturday morning and pulled seven bass out of the Watauga on black grampuses. 1975 Beckley Post–Herald (WV) 2 July 4/2, Jordan did not reveal his technique, except to say he was using hellgrammites—grampusses, to the old school. 1986 Courier–Jrl. (Louisville KY) 6 Oct sec B 1/1, Central Kentucky fishermen know it as the go-devil; many Eastern Kentuckians call it a flying grampus. . . It is the larva of the dobsonfly. 2005 in 2020 DARE File—Internet, A lot of folks around Eastern KY and Southwest VA call the creatures you describe a grampus. 2006 Ibid neTN, They are the bait of choice on Wattauga Lake, in Tn, for limb lining. . . The helgramite is known as a grampus in that area of Tn. 2009 Ibid wNC, The old people around here called hellgrammites “grampuses.” 2014 Ibid seKY, We would scour the river bottom in calm shallow water, slowly lifting small rocks, in search of “crawdeads” [sic] (crayfish) & grampuses (hellgrammites) that were hiding under the rocks.
4 also grumpus: = hellbender n 1. chiefly sAppalachians
1939 WV Conserv. Comm. Units Conservation 2.123, Amphibians Known to Occur in West Virginia. . . Salamanders. . . Family Cryptobranchidae Hellbender, “Grampus.” 1966 WV Conserv. Feb 9, Let’s start with the largest North American salamander, a beast properly called a hellbender, but also known as water dog, and, in certain areas as “grampus.” 2005 in 2020 DARE File—Internet swVA, They are an oversized lizard (waterdog), i’ve seen them 8-10 inches. They will clean off your stringer of fish if you leave them in the water at night like us country folks sometimes do. . . Yep, it is called a Grampus, don’t know it’s proper name. 2012 Ibid swVA, Joe . . said he knew that hellbenders (which he called “grampuses”) weren’t no trouble, and killing them was “something that us nice guys don’t do”. 2018 Atlanta Jrl.–Constitution (GA) 3 Dec sec B 5/4 nGA, They [=hellbenders] also have many nicknames. “I’ve heard a few, most common in this portion of the southern Appalachians is probably mud dog,” says Floyd. There’s also snot otter. He continues: “Water dog, grampus, grumpus, mollyhugger, horny head, devil dog.”
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