1. Troutnut Forum
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2. Fly Tying
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3. best hopper pattern(s)?

any opinions or experience on what is or are the best hopper patterns in current use? it's that time of summer when terrestrials are pretty much the hot-ticket around west MI.
I've been tying Dave's Hopper, the Letort, and even tried Joe's Hopper a few times (this last is time-consuming, but the trees loved it;long story, and too-long backcasts, behind this one...lost every one, every time!).

anyway, this forum is a hoot- I appreciate the wit and candor that only fishermen seem to share!

We don't know nothin' about any freakin' hoppers on this website. I've tried tyin' them, but I can't get them to hop. Besides, we don't have no freakin' hoppers in PA. As a matter of fact, there ain't no fishin' in PA.

PS. I can show you how to tie my Bi-visible, extended body, Clouser Trico, with 4 on the floor and a Wynne's Friction Decal on the side.

Goose-
like I said- the wit and candor which only fishermen seem to share!

I just had a friend ask how I 'keep those itty-bitty bugs' on the hook. I tried to explaing live bait vs. FLIES and got nowhere.

hey, we're the few, the proud, the half-crazed who really understand flyfishing!

Roguerat,

I've only tied the Letort Hopper. My theory is: if it will fool those fish it will fool any fish.

Goosey Brucey,

I want that Trico pattern--sounds like a winner for those picky J. fish that don't know what they want. Meet you above the bridge to try it out.

tight lines all!

Just a little fur for the body maybe a yellow and then some deerhair and rubber legs...GOOD TO RIP!

My best performing hopper is the thin sheet of tan foam(2mm) tapered at the back, and tied in over the dubbed body at the thorax point.(say 2/3 of the way up the shank Tie in a hair wing, and can add some sparkle to the wing. Wrap down the foam and the hair butts to the eye, and dub back to the wing/foam tie in point. Fold the foam that is forward over the eye back to the tie in point and secure down leaving a flap to hold the wing spread out over the foam angled back over the body. This is then a good spot to tie in rubber legs...an easy to tie pattern that has the foam out of the way of the hook resulting in more hook-ups.(don't let the over foam body extend back past the bend very far, or you will miss takes. You can start with a short red tail if you prefer for your hopper patterns. These can be tied smaller, and often work better than big, hopper patterns.

I guess it depends are we talking eastern/midwestern spring creeks or are we talking big windblown western rivers.
Back here in the east I carry exactly one hopper pattern which with a color variation becomes a cricket and that is the fabled Letort Hopper/Cricket. Small relatively low in profile and very delicate for those typically smaller glassy surfaced waters.
For western waters chernobles and flies of that ilk are great as they have a large profile and are easy to sight in the frequent glare on the waters surface.
For som sweet hopper stuff check out this :

http://hopperjuan.blogspot.com/
JW

Sorry I can't figure out how to make the site an active link

That was me JW. Good link.

Hi Sayfu. Welcome!

That's an interesting hopper you are describing. Assuming a 2x long hook - is the body foam gap width or wider? Is it tapered all the way or just near the tail where you round it off? How long is the stub, and is it rounded off as well or to you clip it straight? Do you stop the foam body approx. 1/2 a gap width past the bend?

Regards,

Kurt

I have it tapered just near the tail. And yes, a hook gape in width. I used flex floss (brown) for legs on my small, #12's and the segmented centipede legs on the larger hoppers. I can understand John's concern for foam, and the need for a more accurate creation in hair for clear water, heavily fished Eastern Spring Creeks. I am a free-stoner. We have our Henry's Fork of the Snake that is technical fishing on the Harriman Ranch property called also the Railroad Ranch, but I am more often found on the heavy water of the SF of the Snake. Low water coming soon, and I sure luv that low water when fish are found in pods, and good BWO fishing in the riffles.

Thanks Sayfu. Yeah, like you and JW, I prefer a spun deer head hopper for gentle water as well. No stiff legs though, like the commercial flies. I like knotted PT. For the small ones, I just use various caddis I carry. For the bigger ones have you tried speckled silicone legs? The stuff isn't round but it lasts forever, unlike rubber legs that seem to rot pretty quick. This seems to be specially so at the tie in point, where they break off pretty easy if they have been in a flybox for a couple of years. Of course this solution doesn't help with all the rubber legged patterns I already have. I think I solved that problem by transferring them all (both nymphs and drys) to gasket sealed opaque fly boxes a few years back. Since the biggest enemies of rubber are oxygen and UV, I figure this will work. Gotta throw a desiccant pack in with 'em (like that come with pills) so any trapped humidity doesn't become an issue. So far, so good.

Kurt

Oxygen is an enemy of rubber? Thought it was Ozone. Anyway, you sure hit on a sore subject. I just went through a big box of rotted rubber legs. I threw away some, and have gotten creative at reconstruction. Silicone legs? I'm not familiar with them but seems like a good choice. That easy tying style hopper I described is also easy to tie on small flies as well. I tie a black cricket? ..whatever the fish think it is on a #14 short shanked caddis/pupa hook in black foam, and then flex floss for legs. Come to think of it I don't think I've had that flex floss rot, but it probably will/can.

Sayfu -


Yes, oxygen is corrosive. Ozone is a pure oxygen molecule I think and very corrosive.


I'm sure you've seen them before; they go by the name Sili Legs among others. I'm partial to the black flecked pumpkin for hoppers and golden stone nymphs and I use the clear salt and pepper on some of my Steelhead bombers. Unfortunately it's not round, but I don't think the fish care. It is translucent to a degree so it can't replace rubber across the board, especially for patterns that need solid opaque colors ie., black, white, yellow, etc.


I was just going to tie a few using your suggestion of flash dubbing. How about root beer to match their brownish bodies?


Na, your right, that stuff is good to go. It's actually spandex, the material they put in girdles, socks, and things to make them stretchy. I also like to use it for ribbing and floss bodies. I use yellow for green drake ribbing and the red for Royal Wulffs. It's lighter, doesn't absorb water and will compress better than floss at the tie down. It also splits for use on really tiny flies.

Regards,

Kurt

Sure, There are other underdubbing schemes that would work. What happens to me is I'll tie a few of a pattern, and then the next one is different. I end up with 8 of one, and 2 of a slight veriation...guess what I catch the fish on? Then I have 8 I tend not to use.

Ha, isn't that the truth.