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easy hopper pattern

4K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  John Desjardins 
#1 ·
my son, grandson and myself are going to ennis , mt to fish the madison sept.1-7. all the flyshops say to use hoppers. so i am looking for an easy pattern that hopefully works. i have tied lots of flies but never hoppers. i live in the columbia basin where we seldom use dries except chernoble ants on rocky ford in the fall.
 
#3 ·
Why not tie up some of the old Letort Hoppers that were developed back in the late 40's by the fisherman from the Carlisle, PA area for fishing the well-educated trout of Letort Spring Creek? It is a very simple fly that still works very well for hopper fishing.

It is tied thus:

hook: 2XL dry fly #6,8,10,12
tail: none (can be tied with a very short red deer body hair tail)
body: yellow dubbing
hackle: none
wing: tented mottled turkey
head/collar: deer body hair, tied as a very short muddler style head and collar,
clip all of the collar hair off the bottom. (some tiers tie it like an elk
hair caddis wing, which works just as well)

This was the standard hopper for years until the "more realistic" hoppers with pheasant legs that were designed by Dave Whitlock took the fly fishermen's fancy.

The Letort Cricket is the same fly tied completely out of black components.
 
#5 ·
I don't know waht "simple"means to you, but I don't know of any hopper pattern taht can be done in a wrap-wrap-wrap-tie off session. Most are like Flytier suggests. If you don't use hoppers a lot, you really should buy a doz or so at a local Ennis shop and then you get what is working best on the river. Yoor Cherno Ant should work as well. I was theer a month ago, not many hoppers yet, but I've fished there with hoppers in prior years. My preferred fly has been the Truk's Tarantula pattern, size 8 & 10, white rubber legs, natural/tan body, natural deer hair head. There are many other color combos but I have not had as much success with them, particularly when the fish get fussy.
 
#7 ·
Splitshot,

The truth is that all of the fly shops in western and sourth western Montana have a lot of hoppers of many different patterns in stock (this is based on the 12 years I lived in Montana). No fly shop has a monopoly on hoppers, they all have them. Hoppers along with a tan elk hair caddis, Trico, PMD, and black stonefly nymph is a staple of Montana fishermen in the July-mid-September time period. Just go into any fly shop and you will see a plethora of hoppers for sale.
 
#8 ·
easy hopper?

flytyer, thank you very much for the info. it gives me an idea of what patterns to use. i want to get my 15 year old grandson into some fish. i can always catch fish in the morn. because he sleeps in. i plan to fish the ennis area and visit the local shops and bars. any info you have will be appreciated. thanks again, mike williams
 
#11 ·
Don't discount Stimulators in a few sizes (8-12). Those bugs in olive, tan and yellow are stellar performers when hoopers abound and are a breeze to tie comapred to a Letort Hopper or anything else with spun deer hair. At that time of year if there are any October Caddis around, orange Stimmys work well for them too.

Regards,
Don Johnson
 
#12 ·
wet dry flies

John Desjardins said:
Pete, Interesting that you should mention using Turks Tarantula as a hopper pattern. It's struck me more as a big stonefly rather than a hopper. It worked real well for me fished with a split shot 2 feet ahead of it the past.

This may call for a completely different thread but we'll start here.

John, why a split shot on a dry fly? I have a technique that I use (learned from the French) and am very curious as to the philosophy behind your technique.

Thanks!
Don Johnson
 
#13 ·
e z hopper

if you have time please explain the splitshot thing, no pun intended. i dont know how to tie stimmys but have some. i have tied up a bunch of chernobyl ants. i am retired but have been working parttime to buy hoppres at a shop. i have about 10 days and am stoked and ready. thanks for the info as you guys have given me lots of ideas and knowledge. now all i need is to have someone point me to a piece of water and say fish there but the fun part is figuring that out.
 
#14 ·
Splitshot,

Quite literally just find an access point on the Madison and start to fish. The statevaccess points are well marked and easy to find. Also, any of the shops in Ennis (last time I was there there were 3 of them in that little town of 700 people) can provide you with info on were the river access points are located. The closest access to Ennis is right at the east end of town at the bridge. the river is this area starts to braid a bit because it is just above Ennis Lake (a made made power project) and it gets quite a few folks fishing it because it is so close to town; but it can provide some very good fishing if you walk up or downstream 1/2 mile.

Also, the river below Ennis Lake (ask the folks in Ennis how to reach it, although if you get to Ennis by way of Bozeman you will cross the Madison below the lake) can be fantastic fishing in late August through November. There is a county road running along this portion of the river that provides good access to the river. Also, most of the ranches gladly give permission to tresspass and fish if you stop and ask.

Along with the great fishing on the lower river below the lake, there is a wonderful spring creek on public land in this area too, meaning there are no
"rod fees", that is never crowded. It is not easy fishing; but is has a huge population of very nice browns and rainbows that are suckers for Tricos in the morning and caddis in the evening. I will not tell you the name of this little gem; but I will tell you there is a public parking lot and access to the river and this spring creek is found on the county road (which is gravel). I lived 50 miles from this area for 4 years and fished this spring creek and the lower Madison many times.

Enjoy your trip to the trout fishing heaven found in Montana.
 
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