Dave’s Hopper

Dave’s Hopper

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Tying Instructions

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.

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 5263 #4-14
Thread	Danville Brown 6/0
Body	Fl. Yellow Antron
Ribbing	Brown Hackle, Palmered
Tail	Red Bucktail
Underwing	Yellow dyed Deer Hair
Wing	Mottled Oak Turkey Wing
Legs	Pheasant Tail Quill Barbs, Knotted
Collar	Natural Deer Hair, Spun
Head	Natural Deer Hair, Spun and clipped

Dave Whitlock

Dave’s Hopper

Dave’s Hopper is a pattern designed by the late Dave Whitlock during the mid-1950’s. Dave tried to incorporate aspects of both the Muddler Minnow and Joe’s Hopper, which was the popular hopper pattern of the early 1950’s.

Pattern Design

He tried to give the hopper a low wind resistance with the ability to make a “splat noise” when striking the water. The hopper also needed to float low within the surface film with a strong body and leg profile when viewed from below. The hopper pattern is probably one of the most popular to tie.

Variations

Color variations can be used to create crickets (all black) or stonefly imitations. The original Dave’s Hopper called for legs made of knotted Yellow-dyed Grizzly hackle that were trimmed. Later, many tiers made the legs using knotted pheasant tail fibers. His original pattern also called for a wool body which sinks better than synthetic materials. Dave’s Hopper is also more streamlined than many hopper patterns and can be easier to cast within gusty conditions.

Hopper Season

In the Sierra, Dave’s Hopper is primarily used in late summer from August through October. Hoppers prefer warm days above 70 degrees. The best time to fish these flies are during the late morning to mid afternoon, particularly when wind gusts are present which knock the naturals into the water. Once knocked into the water, most hoppers try to kick back to shore and many trout await in anticipation of a big meal.

Try to cast the hopper pattern around large boulders and next to undercut banks. Look for banks with plenty of grass and areas with downed trees or brush around the streambank. Dave prefers to fish his hopper patterns with a 6 weight bass-bug-taper fly line that was designed for smallmouth bass. The line gives him the best opportunity for accurate casts under windy conditions. Dave also likes to use a Duncan Loop to attach the hopper to the line and adds some floatant on top of the head, collar, and wing. Weighted hoppers can also be used or unweighted one with splitshot or twist-ons about 18″ above the hopper. This will allow the hopper to go subsurface and drift under logs and banks.

Three Good Techniques

There are three good presentation techniques that Dave Whitlock prefers. One, the Upstream Bank Cast, make 25 foot sidearm casts upstream next to the bank and then some casts 2-3 feet from the bank. Try not to shorten the casts as to scare the trout. Two, a Downstream Bank Clap, bring the hopper hard against the water, pause for 3 seconds and twitch the fly towards shore. Move downstream to the next likely spot and repeat. Three, Across and Downstream, a 30-40 foot cast putting the hopper 3, 5, 10, and 15 feet from the bank. Allow the hopper to dead drift or twitch it. Do not wade close to the banks you are fishing.

Dave’s Cricket

Hook	TMC 5263 #6-14
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Body	Black Poly Yarn
Ribbing	Black Hackle, Palmered
Tail	Black Deer Hair
Wing	Black Dyed Turkey Wing use Copic Marker to dye Black
Legs	Black Hacklestems, trimmed and knotted
Collar	Black Deer Hairtips, Spun
Head	Black Deer Hair, Spun and clipped