Marabou

Tying Instructions: Dave's Hopper



	1. Clip a small clump of red bucktail and even the tips. Tie in the bucktail for a short tail. The tail should measure about 1/3 the shank length from the bend of the hook.
	2. Tie in a brown hackle that is clipped to one half the hook gap, by the tip, at the base of the tail.
	3. Attach the yarn or wool body. I'm using a synthetic yellow wool and have attached a tip of it at the midpoint on the shank. Secure with thread wraps to the base of the tail.
	4. Twist the yarn to tighten it and allow the twist to double up on itself so that it extends about 1/2 the tail length. Secure this section with thread wraps.
	5. Twist the wool again and wrap the twisted wool forward to the 2/3 position. Secure with thread wraps. With wool , you can vary the thickness upon twisting. I've tapered the body to give better floatation above the heavier hook bend and to allow the underwing and wing to lie flatter against the body..
	6. Wrap the clipped hackle forward and secure at the 2/3 position.
	7. Clip a section of yellow dyed deer hair and even the tips in a stacker for an underwing. Attach the hairs to the top of the shank at the 2/3 position. Give a couple of looser wraps behind the tighter wraps to reduce the flare. The length of the underwing should not extend beyond the tail.
	8. Next, cut a 3/8 inch section of turkey feather sprayed with a fixative. Round the heavier clipped end and attach the wing material to the top of the shank so that the wing does no extend beyond the tail. Apply a drop of Superglue to the thread wraps for extra holding strength.
	9. Now attach the legs. These are optional but the legs do give a hopper look.Prepare the legs from a section of Pheasant Tail Quills by knotting to create a knee. You can prepare a left and right leg by knotting a mirror image of the other.
	10. Clip a section of deer hair and even the tips. Attach the clump to the top of the shank just in front of the wing tie-down position. The hairs should not extend beyond the body. Two loose wraps will help distribute the hairs around the top half of the shank when tightened.
	11. Next, attach another clump to the bottom of the shank, again with two loose wraps, tighten the wraps to distribut the hairs around the lower half of the shank.
	12. Trim the butt ends of the deer hair to get a square head profile. You do not need to be too accurate at this point since you will trim again when the fly is whip finished .
	13. Hopefully, you still have enough room for another clump of deer hair. Since this clump is on bare shank , you should be able to spin the entire clump.
	14. Whip Finish. Trim the deer hair butts to form a square head behind the eye. The tips from the first clump are not trimmed leaving a collar. Trim all of the hairs on the underside of the fly so that the fly will lay lower within the surface film.