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The Klod Hopper
by: Paul Stimpson of Arricks Fly Shop
I hate tying hoppers, but I love to fish them. I took this problem to the vise to develop a quick, easy tie that would imitate a mature grasshopper, float well, and fool some of the “intelligent” fish I’ve had to deal with lately. I started with Denny Breer’s Cicada Trude, a foam body cicada pattern. This fly floats well, but needed some modification for a hopper. I changed the color, switched to a dubbed body, and started fishing.
My fishing days were interrupted with periods of hopper chasing. I had forgotten just how hard those guys are to catch. The ones I did catch were unceremoniously tossed into the water. I watched how they floated and moved. They floated in the surface film, not on it and kicked to escape. I never did see a hopper attempt to fly from the water; the wings were in the “at rest” position the whole time. A few of the hoppers were actually able to kick to shore and escape.
I’ve seen thousands of live hoppers before, but I never really inspected one up close. The hoppers in my area weren’t yellow. The naturals I was able to capture were of a tan and brown variegation. The most surprising feature I observed were the kicker legs, they were large and red.
Back to the vise. I changed the foam and dubbing to a tan and tied with dark brown thread. I used red rubber legs tied in the “X” fashion to allow them to rest on the water. My pheasant or trimmed hackle legs did not provide the movement I wanted. I used a smaller body hackle to allow the fly to set in the surface film.
I couldn’t wait to test my new hopper. My wife, Char and I fish a private pond near my home in Utah. The fish in this pond had seen every hopper known to man and were very selective. The first iterations of the new hopper were disappointing but the latest modification; with the tan body and red legs was the answer. I’m convinced the hoppers on this pond were keying on the red legs.
As Gary LaFontaine warns “you never want to trust the creator about his own fly”. Try this one yourself on selective fish; I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
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