With the end of winter only a few months away, a sense of urgency swells
in the minds of most serious fly tiers. Choosing what patterns one is
going to fill their fly boxes with is not an easy decision for most, but
stocking up with a few terrestrial patterns could never be wrong.
Terrestrial patterns encompass a large group of flies varying from ants
and beetles to field mice. Although these other land loving critters sound
like fun to tie and fish; nothing beats splashing around with robust
hopper patterns. The beauty of these flies is that they evoke vicious
strikes from hearty trout while at the same time being very easy to fish.
Hopper patterns are basically large dry flies that require no soft subtle
presentation. The louder the plop on the landing the better. If you have
ever witnessed an actual grasshopper fall to the water's surface you have
seen that they are not an insect who gives up easily. These feisty
critters will kick and scratch their way to the water edge or die trying.
The flopper is a hopper pattern that differs from most others because it
is not fished like a traditional dry, but rather in the surface film or
submerged like a wet fly. The flopper represents a drowned or live hopper
that has been pulled under the water surface by the turbulent current.
Since the fly is tied without the use of foam or excessive buoyant
materials plus having a thick shag body getting down deep in the water
column should not be too much of a problem. The best conditions for using
this fly pattern are fast flowing rocky rivers surrounded by long grassy
fields. Simply cast the fly across and upstream from the target rocky run,
and give one or two quick strips of line to pull the fly under. After the
fly is submerged or riding low in the film, let it drift as drag free as
possible, but be sure to collect the extra line as the fly nears your
position. Watch how the fish react to the fly. If they are taking the fly
early in the drift, while the fly is still riding high in the water
column, a little floatant applied to the bullet head will keeping the fly
floating just beneath the surface and the fish happy. If the fish are
waiting for the fly to reach the depths of the run a lead free shot
applied a foot above the fly will help to get the fly down faster. If you
are seeing fish follow your fly but not take it, try giving the fly a few
upstream strips near the end of the drift, this sometimes help those
indecisive fish to bite down and bite down hard.
|
Flopper - The Fallen Hopper |
| Hook: |
Tiemco 200R Size 10 |
| Thread: |
Uni-Thread Tan 8/0 |
| Body: |
Yellow Hareline Dubbing |
| Underwing: |
Red Deer Hair |
| Wing: |
Mottled Turkey Feather |
| Head: |
Brown Deer Hair |
| Antennae: |
Stripped Grizzly Hackles |
| Legs: |
Montana Fly “Legs On A
Stick”, Yellow |
| Indicator: |
Orange Egg Yarn (optional) |
1. Start this fly by placing the hook into the vise securely and
attaching your thread just behind the hook eye.
2. Wind your thread to the point above the barb and form a large
dubbing loop. Place some of the yellow dubbing into the loop and spin it
into a tight rope. With your dubbing needle or a toothbrush tease out the
dubbing rope and cut the shaggy dubbing down close to the center of the
rope. Smooth all the extending dubbing fibers to one side of the rope and
proceed to wrap the up the body of the fly. You might need to make two to
three dubbing ropes to cover the entire body of the fly, depending on how
much dubbing you place in the loop at one time. Just remember with each
new dubbing rope you make to cut the teased out fibers just a little
longer each time to get a nice tapered shape to the body.
3. After you have reached the halfway mark on the hook shank with
the dubbing, clip and stack 7-10 red deer hairs. Tie these hairs on top of
the back of the fly and clip the tag ends short. The deer hair should
reach just about to the end of the hook shank.
4. With a small application of flexament fix a small section of
fibers from a mottled turkey feather. Allow the flexament to dry and cut
the end of the wing into an arc shape before tying it down on top of the
fly body. The wing should extend almost to the end of the fly but be a
little shorter than the red deer hairs.
5. With the wing in place clip two separate legs (one from the
right and left sides of the feather) from the Montana Fly Company “Legs On
A Stick”. If you want can tie your own pheasant tail legs by knotting a
few of the feathers you have lying around, but believe me the time and
headaches you will save but purchasing these pre-made can not be
understated enough. With one leg tied onto each side of the fly body wrap
down the antennae for the head extending over the hook eye. You can place
the antennae on in the last step if you like with a little zap-a-gap glue
but tying them in place holds much better in the long run.
6. Clip a small patch of deer hair about the size of pencil from
the hide and proceed to clean and strip the fuzz from the ends of the
hair. Align the hair tips evenly with your hair stacker and tie it onto
the hook shank extending over the hook eye about 1 ˝ times the hook gape.
Make sure to spin the deer hair equally around the hook shank and to wrap
the thread right up tight to the back of the hook eye.
7. Before forming the bullethead, wrap the thread back about four
to five turns to place the thread into the tie off position for the head.
Now with your fingers or a bullethead maker pull the deer hair back over
the body (making sure not to pull the antennae back) and take 2-3 turns of
threads to hold things in place. Inspect the head of the hopper you just
created to make sure the deer hair was pulled back evenly and that no bald
spots are present. If there is small patches of no hair simply unwind your
thread and release the hair. Repeat the procedure for forming the
bullethead but try twisting the hair slightly to cover where the bald
patches were previously.
8. Once you are happy with the shape and size of the bullethead you
have the choice of tying in an indicator or not. If you planning to fish
the fly in the surface film it is good idea to have the indicator present
so that you can see the fly easier, but it is not necessary. Personally I
carry a few of each type in my fly box, some with out indicators to be
fished down deep and a few with indicators for the surface film. Either
way whip finish the head and cement thoroughly.
Tight lines and Smooth threads
Written By: Jason Akl, Feb 2004
Photographs By: Jason Akl |
