Fishingrookie and I had some fun fly fishing yesterday, and the hoppers were everywhere so I was wondering if anyone had a favorite hopper fly for this time of year. I'm brand new to fly fishing so any help would be great.
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The yellow and red one on the end of my line was working great!
P.S. I went back to Twin and caught some more behind the tree this morning!
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As another new guy, I'm curious to know, too. As an aside, I've been tying most of my own flies this summer, but haven't done anything for a hopper, they've all been whatever the local tackle shop was selling. I want to find some hopper patterns that aren't foam bodied. For whatever reason, I'd rather tie flies that weren't foam bodies. That said, the vast majority of hoppers I see for sale have foam bodies so there must be something to them.
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Dave's Hopper is my favorite, But Joe's Hoppers are a close second. PMX work well too.
A lot of cool foam ones out there that do the job, but I like the old school...LOL
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I do have some hopper patterns, but I seldom use them. I usually use a stimulator or larger elk hair caddis in green, grey, or gold.
Maybe it is a confidence thing, but I think I get more on the generic stimulators,or caddis etc than I do on specific hopper patterns, and they float better and cast easier than most hopper patterns that I have tried.
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I started using the "Charlie Boy" a few years ago, and don't even carry any others now. I substitute a poly wing for the hair, and it still floats like a cork.
[url "http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/detail.cfm?parentID=16"]http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/...tail.cfm?parentID=16[/url]
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That looks like a nice simple hopper that is worth trying.
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Here's the simplified version I use.
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[url "http://jims-wanderings.blogspot.com/"]http://jims-wanderings.blogspot.com/[/url]
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That looks great and is about what I was thinking of tying in a few different colors and sizes. Thanks for posting the picture!
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I like Joes Hopper, but I use stimulators and the PMX more often because they could be so many other bugs as well. They are just a generic attractor that usually does the job for me.
Windriver
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I'd have to say my favorite hopper pattern is actually a stimulator pattern. I've never gone wrong with the yellow body, and am pretty partial to adding in white barred legs. I've also started adding a section or two of yellow foam on top of my wing for the added visibility and buoyancy.
The all-foam hoppers look cool, but I think they tend to catch more fisherman than fish. I still use them on occasion when I want to do a hopper dropper rig, they make good indicators, but they don't seem quite buggy enough to catch consistently. I think it has something to do with the lack of (in my scientific reasoning and terminology) fuzz.
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Thanks for all the tips guys. That'll give me some help building my fly collection. Oh, and I couldn't get a pic, but I did get my first fish over 12" on a fly rod the other night. It was awesome!
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