In this world

[fflutterffly]

Well please tell Mike that this fly is exactly what I've been looking for and would he please do a DVD for YouTube so I can have the same success he boast of.

[willowhead]

COOL thread..................you guys just gave me sone ideas....................i'm gonna use hoppers and tye some special ones for the Tenkara Summitt in Montana later this month..................DAMN i am gettin' SOOOOOO excited to get the heck outta here..........just 11 more days to go.........i should be on the Gallatin by the 24th............Hoppers w/the Tenkara rod.................OH YEAH! Thass gonna WORK!!!!!

[kacbo]

Maybe Jack Gartside's Sparrow?

http://jackgartside.com/step_gartside_sparrow.htm

...and what Jack said about it:
"..a fly that I could fish as a nymph or as a streamer or even as a passable hopper imitation (greased to float, sunken as a drowned grasshopper)"

..and my impression of Sparrow:



It's soft hackle and wet, for sure. Maybe doesn't look as a hopper to us...

[hankaye]

kacbo, Howdy;

Thanks for the link. Great information there.

hank

[willowhead]

The Sparrow would do the job perfectly..........it's definately one of his all time great flies.....and he had a few. Jack was amazing in so many ways......his sense of humor............his insights.............his wit..............his ideas..............his willingness to share and teach................and his quest for always searching for more and finding it. His love of the quest.............he was a hell of a charactor............we could just sit around and talk bout cab drivin' all night. He drove in Boston and i drove in S.F. & N.Y.C. Some FUNNY stories............you just never know who's gonna get in your cab.............lmao.

[kanutripr]

Here's a soft hackle hopper pattern that I got from a friend who says he saw it in a magazine a couple of years ago. I have fished this with great success in the late summer/fall even when there were no hoppers readily apparent.

Hook: Daiichi 1270 (or similar), #8-14, with or without bead
Thread: Yellow or primrose
Hackle: Partridge or mallard or hen
Rib: Midge tubing (or wire or tinsel or stripped hackle stem)
Tail: Red hackle fibers (or floss or silk fibers)
Body: Tapered "buggy" dubbing (golden olive works well)
Legs: Large trimmed ginger hackle feathers; "traditional" knotted PT fiber legs work well also
Wing: (Optional) 3-4 pheasant tail fibers
Head: Dubbing, slightly darker than body

Wow Bill that is a really snazzy tie! Very nice!!


Vicki

[skunkaroo]

This a "for what it's worth" comment, but if you're interested in coming up with a soft hackle hopper variant look no further than some of the British "hopper" or "daddy" patterns. Similar to Bill's pattern with or without a bead, the Brits use knotted pheasant tail for the legs and softer c*ck for hackles. Mostly tied for stillwater fishing, the variations are endless. It would be a piece of cake to come up with a viable grass hopper variant that would probably be an excellent imitation. While most of the British patterns use single strands of knotted pheasant tail to imitate legs, multiple knotted strands would give a more robust imitation of grass hopper or cricket legs.

I've been using a cranefly pattern based on the British model for sometime now and can say unequivocally that it is a really effective pattern when the naturals are on the wing--usually on the margins of streams in my area. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of my own pattern handy, but here are some of the UK patterns from others:







You get the idea...

Aaron

Edit: Whoops. I should have checked some of the other threads before posting. I see you're already into the creative process.

[fflutterffly]

Thanks Skunk! Great looking and even though I've "started the process," that process is never done. I tossed my hoppers into the stream and got little response, but then again I was at 8000' and there is less hopping and plopping up there. I will give your flies a try. Thanks for the input and it is worth a lot to me.

[letumgo]

Wow, those are awesome Aaron!

[willowhead]

Ditto!