Dubbed Deer Hair Hopper

Created by Jeff Morgan

HOOK: Dai Riki 270, size 10-14 THREAD: Olive UNDERBODY: Tan foam BODY: Olive sparkle dubbing LEGS: Knotted yellow dyed grizzly hackle WING: Pre-formed mottled olive stonefly wing. Wing is folded tent-like over body. HEAD: About 80% olive and 20% yellow deer hair, dubbed

Uses

Imitates grasshoppers, which can be common from late July through early fall. Grasshoppers are terrestrial insects, but they often fall onto the water from streamside vegetation. They represent a large and easy meal to trout.

 
For more on this pattern, see the article Hoppers . . . At Last

Variations

Vary the body color to match the insects that are available. Common natural colors are lemon yellow, chartreuse, dark brown, dark gray, and dark olive .

How to Fish

Dress the fly with floatant and use standard dry fly presentations. On small streams, you can fish a hopper anywhere in the river, but on larger flows you will do best to present the fly right next to the bank. On larger rivers, the best places to cast are along the margins, no more than 15 feet from the bank, and often only inches from the bank. Unless you're fishing from a boat, you may find it works best to wade into the river and cast back to the bank.

 
One effective tactic is to cast so the fly hits shoreside grass, then lands in the river with a distinct plop. This mimics the natural insect. To further imitate natural behavior, give the fly an occasional twitch as it drifts.

Tying Instructions

1. De-barb hook, put in vice, start thread.

 
2. Tie in foam for underbody.

 
3. Dub over foam with olive sparkle dubbing.

 
4. Tie in wing material for wing. Trim short.

 
5. Tie in legs. Apply a drop of superglue to hold them in place without hard thread tension, which could bend the wing.

 
6. Mix deer hair and dub it on for head. For more about this technique, see Dubbing with Deer Hair.

 
7. Whip finish and trim