Grasshoppers

S

steve98

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Sep 9, 2006
Messages
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Looking for a grasshopper pattern that does NOT use foam.
I also want to use the tied Pheasant Tail for the legs.

TY
Steve 98
 
Ed Shenk's "Letort Hopper"
 
Use your imagination. Very few flies that I tie anymore are the exact ingredients of the "original.". Take a pic of your target (hopper) and create something similar...
 
Most of these traditional hopper patterns utilize deer hair. Take a look at a "Dave's Hopper" - a traditional pattern by Dave Whitlock - and then perhaps modify it to suit what appeals to you with respect to design, color, float ability, etc.
 
Just curious, what do you have against foam? Or is it more of a traditional old school approach. Either way, it's cool, just wondering. I have tied some really cool foam hoppers lately, and the rubber legs really create a lot of movement and action.
 
The Letort hopper as mentioned is a great and fairly simple pattern. I tie a stimulator and add pheasant tail legs and that works well for me. This one was tied for one of the PAFF swaps a few months back:
OliveStimulatorHopper.JPG

I avoid foam most of the time for no good reason. I just like working with natural materials. I will use foam as a small component in some flies, but when the fly becomes dominated by foam it just looks kind of cartoonish to me. I can't argue with the effectiveness and ease of tying the foam patterns provide. It just isn't for me.
 
Agreed, you cant beat the effectiveness and relative ease of tying that foam provides. Foam hoppers with rubber legs can provide you with excellent ww and cw fishing.
 
Try tying some similar to the Letort hopper, but with a body of spun and clipped yellow deer hair. And use those pheasant tail legs, or biot legs.
 
Ok, can someone reveal the secret to tying pheasant tail legs?
 
I use junk (Damn why did I buy them?) hackle stems. The thin area near the tip.They are easy to tie and I think they look better and last longer. Strip one side and trim the other leaving just a thin tiny margin.
 
Some hopper patterns (foam)
http://hopperfishing.wordpress.com/
http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/hoppers/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE-gWWv9j7g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIay8bIRmnY
 
laszlo wrote:
Ok, can someone reveal the secret to tying pheasant tail legs?

The easiest way, in my opinion, is to use a tool called a nit picker that you can buy for a few dollars at a sewing or craft store. Someone posted a link to a tutorial on Charlie Craven's site a while back, but I can't remember which fly it was. All you need to do is tie an overhand knot in 3-5 tail fibers and then coat the tips with head cement to keep them together. The tool makes the knot tying a bit easier.
 
I use the tip of my bodkin or the hook on my whip finisher to knot materials.
 
I use a green or yellow stimulator. As the season progresses I use larger Stimmies until I don't see any more grasshoppers.
 
beadhead2, that hopper fishing link you posted is AWESOME!!!
ill be crankin out boulder hoppers like a wild man.
 
BlkLgbEaDheAd09 wrote:
beadhead2, that hopper fishing link you posted is AWESOME!!!
ill be crankin out boulder hoppers like a wild man.

I found that site a while back - there are some great patters on there. And if you are into WW fishing, big sunfish and smallmouth LOVE them!
 
Unused to love tying and fishing the classic parachute hopper, which uses pheasant tail legs. Now, pretty much the only hopper pattern I use is Craven's Charlie Boy Hopper but that's a foam pattern.
 
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