Thunderthighs

PATTERN DESCRIPTION:

This is a new hopper pattern that I came up with for the upcoming season. This patterns has all the right qualities to be a real fish catcher. It has rubber legs, a foam bullet head and a very realistic silhouette. The legs of the hopper may seem a bit excessive, but I noticed last year that the trout, especially late in the season,  liked this style of hopper with the over-sized legs, or Thunderthighs. This realistic foam hopper pattern is easy to tie, and it can be tied in any color combination.  Tie a few up and let me know how they work.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Hook: Dai Riki 730 sz. 8-12

Thread: UTC 140 Denier. Tan

Body: 4mm craft foam.  I glued 2mm tan and 2mm brown craft foam together with 3M Spray Adhesive.

Thighs: 2mm craft foam thinly sliced, tan

Legs: Super floss.  I use super floss or super flex for the legs of this hopper and barr them with a black Sharpie.  Super Floss doesn’t break when you tie the over-hand knot for attaching the leg joints.

Post: 2mm craft foam, orange.

Step 1

Step 1: Cut out a  2″x 4″ section of tan and brown 2mm craft foam.  Next, glue the two pieces of craft foam together with spray adhesive to form a 4mm block of tan/brown foam.

Step 2

Step 2: From the foam block, cut out a 1/4″ wide strip, or a general rule is to cut the strip the width of the gap of the hook.  You should have a 4mm strip of foam that is 1/4″ wide and 2″ long.  Next, shape foam as shown above.  The strip on the right I used a medium sized hopper cutter and for the one on the left I shaped it freehand to illustrate both possible methods.

Step 2

Step 2: Side view of foam strip.

Step 3

Step 3: Wrap thread base on hook.  I wrap a 3-layer thread base for more durability, plus the hopper body tends to rotate on the hook less with a thicker thread base.  Stop thread at hook barb.

Step 4

Step 4: Attach hopper body onto hook directly above the barb. Tail of hopper body should extend about a hook gap beyond tie in point.  Use 5-7 firm thread wraps to secure the foam to the hook.

Step 5

Step 5: Advance thread forward on hook only to point shown above, just in front of hook point.   Next, tie down foam body with 5-7 firm wraps. Here we have created the first body segment of the hopper.

Step 6

Step 6: Again, advance thread forward on hook only to point shown above, about a hook gap behind eye of hook.  Bind down foam hopper body with 3-4 firm thread wraps.  Keep wraps to a minimum here because the legs still have to be tied in here.

Step 7

Step 7: Advance thread forward to point shown above, about 2 eye lengths behind eye of hook.  Bind down foam body with 3-4 firm thread wraps.  Notice body segments are all about equal size, and the last body segment is 2 eye lengths behind eye of hook.

Step 8

Step 8: Cut a thin strip of orange 2mm craft foam for the post.  Strip of foam should be narrower than width of body.

Step 9

Step 9: Bind down post with 2 firm wraps of thread.  Post should extend to barb of hook.

Step 10

Step 10: Advance thread back, over the top of the hopper to 2nd body segment as shown above.  Next, bind down post with 2 firm wraps of thread.  Trim remaining post extending over eye of hook.

Step 11

Step 11: Cut out two thin pieces of foam for the hopper thighs or legs out of 2mm tan craft foam.  The pieces above are about 1mm x 2mm and 2 inches long.

Step 12

Step 12: Using a strand of tan super floss or super flex that I barred with a black Sharpie, form an over-hand knot towards the end of the super floss.

Step 13

Step 13: Insert foam strip into over-hand knot as shown above.  Notice the foam strip is shaped like a matchbook match, thin and flat. The super floss will be tied on parallel to the wide part of the foam strip.

Step 14

Step 14: Tighten super floss over-hand knot onto foam strip with firm pressure.

Step 15

Step 15: Trim legs as shown.  Here I trimmed the super floss nearly flush with the over-hand knot on one end, and trimmed the remaining foam extending beyond the rubber legs.  These legs look good with red super floss also.

Step 16

Step 16: Attach legs to hopper body with 2-3 firm wraps of thread.  Notice joints of legs should extend to barb of hook.

Step 16

Step 16: Top view of hopper legs tied in.

Step 17

Step 17: Form head of hopper by folding over foam strip extending over eye of hook.  Bind down foam strip at same tie in point as the legs of the hopper.  Notice the head of the hopper is extending over the front of the eye of the hook.  Next, trim remaining leg strips flush with thread wraps.

Step 18

Step 18: Hopper with legs trimmed and bullet head formed.

Step 19

Step 19: Next, trim excess foam body material around the orange post flush with thread wraps.  Notice how the orange post really sticks out now.

Step 19

Step 19: Top view of trimmed hopper.

Step 20

Step 20: Advance thread over hopper body to segment just behind the eye of the hook.  Bind down body with 2-3 firm wraps of thread.

Step 21

Step 21: Attach legs to both sides of hopper.

Step 22

Step 22: Whip finish at this point at trim legs to desired length. Add some superglue to the leg joints and body segments for extra durability.

Trout's view of Thunderthighs

Finished Hopper

Realistic Foam Hopper

It’s always good to have a couple hopper patterns that are different from what everyone else is using.

How to tie the Pink Pookie Hopper

PATTERN DESCRIPTION:

The Pink Pookie foam hopper created by Dean Reiner out of Hatch Finders Fly Shop in Livingston, Montana in one of the more popular hopper patterns in the Livingston-Bozeman area… and for good reason.  The Pink Pookie just flat out catches fish.  This hopper pattern, with its foam bullet-head and foam wing, floats like a cork.  The pink foam body of the fly seems very unnatural for imitating actual grasshoppers, yet the trout see something in the color pink that they identify as being food. Whether the pink foam is an attractor-color to the trout or just the right shade of color is hard to say.  If you’re looking for that ” something different ” hopper pattern try this one out.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Hook: Dai-Riki #780 sz. 8

I like to use 2xl nymph hooks for most hopper patterns.  These hooks are very durable.

Thread: UTC Ultra-Thread 140 Denier in Red for a contrast color or Pink.  I usually tie most of my hoppers with a contrast color thread.

Foam: 2mm craft foam.  Tan foam for the wing, pink for the belly.

Under-Wing: Natural deer hair.

Post: 2mm craft foam – Orange

Legs: Medium yellow/black barred rubber legs

Step 1: Create a thread base on the hook.  I usually do a 3-layer thread base.  Building a 3-layer thread base seems to keep the hopper body from twisting or rotating on the hook. Stop thread at hook point.

Step 2: With Foam Cutters: Using foam cutters, stamp out 2 pieces of foam.  I use a small foam cutter for the pink belly and a medium sized foam cutter for the over-wing.

or Step 2: Without foam cutters: Trim out 2 pieces of foam and taper the ends of the foam as desired.  The smaller pink strip of foam is just under a 1/4″ in width and 2 inches long.  The tan over-wing strip is 1/4″ wide and 2 1/2 inches long.  Foam cutters just quicken this step a bit.

Step 3: Remove hook from vise and slide the pink strip of foam onto the hook.  Pierce foam strip 1 hook gap from tapered end of foam strip. The hole in the foam should be right above hook point as pictured above.

Step 4: Bind down foam strip with 4-5 firm thread wraps.

Step 5: Begin forming segments on body: Advance thread forward on hook only to just in front of point of hook.  At this point, bind down foam with 4-5 firm thread wraps.

Step 6: Form next segment in body.  This segment should be just less than half-way to eye of hook.   Bind down foam with 2-3 thread wraps only. At this 3rd segment, we will tie in deer hair, over-wing and legs, so keep thread wraps to a minimum here.

Step 7: Advance thread to just shy of hook eye as shown in photo above.

Step 8: Bind down foam with 2-3 thread wraps.  Next, trim remaining foam as close as possible just behind hook eye.  You can push single blade of scissor behind hook eye as shown above and saw foam piece off against the blade or with fine point scissors, just trim foam strip right behind hook eye.

Step 9: Cover trimmed ends of foam with thread as shown above.  Try to keep thread wraps to a minimum here.

Step 10: View of completed under-body.

Step 11: Advance thread back to 3rd body segment as shown above.  Cross the thread over the top of the foam body.

Step 12: Take over-wing and lay it on top of pink foam with tapered ends of foam even.  Next, mark the foam with your fingernail just beyond end of hook eye as shown above.

Step 13: Flip foam piece over.  Tapered end should now be extending over eye of hook.  Line the fingernail mark in foam up with just beyond hook eye as shown above.  At this point, we will bind down foam over-wing.

Step 14: Bind down over-wing with 2-3 firm wraps of thread.

Step 15: Advance thread over top of pink foam to hook eye.  Lightly stretch tan foam over-wing and bind down foam at point shown above with 4-5 thread wraps.

Step 16: Trim butts of tan foam at original tie-in point as close as possible.

Step 17: Advance thread back again to 3rd body segment.

Step 18: Stack a clump of deer hair and tie in so tips of hair extend beyond pink foam under-body. See photo in step 21 for length of under-body, deer hair, and bullet-head.

Step 19: Bind down deer hair with 4-5 thread wraps.  Again, keep wraps of thread to a minimum here.

Step 20: Apply some super-glue to butts of deer hair for durability.

Step 21: Lightly pull foam over-wing back over body of hopper.  Bind down foam over-wing with 2-3 firm thread wraps.

Step 22: Cut a thin strip of 2mm orange foam.  Strip of foam should be narrower than bullet-head of hopper.

Step 23: Bind down foam post with 2-3 wraps of thread, then trim post to desired length. Post shown in photo above is about 1/4″ long.

Step 24: Tie in rubber legs on hopper with 3-4 wraps of thread.  Length of legs is about 2″.

Top View of Pink Pookie

Trout's view of Pink Pookie

Ask me in the summer what the fish are biting on…

Rubber Soled Wading Boots…Better Than Felt?

The latest hype in the fly fishing industry is the wading boot companies trying to replace the perfected felt soles with untested rubber soles. The theory behind banning felt-bottomed boots seems worthwhile (check out this article for more info on that), yet the replacement for felt seems forced upon us by the boot companies.  Every wading boot company has created a rubber-bottomed sole that they think will get you, the angler, from point A to point B without falling on your you-know-what.  Not one boot company uses the same rubber sole, yet every wading boot company just 2 years ago used the exact same felt on the bottom of their wading boots.  The real question is, will any rubber-soled boots be able to hold their own against felt-soled boots.

We all know that felt works.  Anytime you have a stream with rounded, moss-covered, slimy rocks, you need felt.  Other than that felt does have its drawbacks.  Felt wears out fairly quickly, it’s slippery on steep grassy banks and snow sticks to the felt bottoms.  To top things off, felt doesn’t dry, therefore, aquatic what-evers can be carried from one river to the next via your damp felt-soled wading boots.

Rubber soled wading boots in theory would be great.  Rubber dries out quickly, therefore, aquatic hitchhikers are less likely to be carried from one river to the next.  Rubber soles are nice to hike in, on the way to the river, along the banks, down grassy steep banks, and rubber doesn’t hold onto snow like felt.  This we know.  We walk around on rubber soled shoes all the time.  The real problem is those slimy round rocks found in most of our rivers.  How will rubber-bottomed wading boots hold up in those environments?

After checking out all the different rubber soled wading boots out there, I decided on Dan Bailey’s Eco-Grip Wading Boots. The Eco-Grip boot seems well built, with beefy stitches, toe guards, and a nice boxy fit, definitely not on the narrow side.  The rubber sole is what I really liked about these boots.  The tread bottom has lots of edges and lots of surface area, like what you look for in good snow tires.  Edges, surface-area, and grippy-soft rubber.

I’ve worn these boots on two different rivers with the dreaded rounded, slimy rocks.  All I can say is wow. These boots seem like they grip better than felt in almost every circumstance. Hiking, steep grassy banks, and slime covered round river rocks. The rubber soles really amaze me.  After walking in felt soles around 100-150 days a year for the last 15 years, I’m upset the boot companies didn’t go to rubber soles earlier on.

I’ve only worn the boots a few times now, but I am really impressed with their grip on slimy rocks.  I’ll keep you posted on how the boots hold up, or if I find some places where felt is still superior to rubber-soled boots.  Let me know what you think about these boots or other brands of rubber bottomed wading boots.

Improved Chaos Hopper

PATTERN DESCRIPTION:

How To Tie The Improved Chaos Hopper. The Improved Chaos Hopper created by Craig Matthews of West Yellowstone, is a great late-summer realistic hopper pattern.  This foam hopper has the right silhouette and just enough wiggle with its rubber legs to fool any trout late into the summer.  I really like the Improved Chaos Hopper in smaller sizes like 10-14′s in its original cocoa color, or even tan, goldenrod or peach colors.  Whenever I’m fishing low, gin-clear waters like those found in Yellowstone Park in August and September, or even the big rivers like the Big Horn or Yellowstone River where the fish have seen size 8-12 hoppers time and time again, I like to switch things up by tying on a size 12-14 Chaos Hopper. This pattern is easy to tie, very durable and buoyant, and looks and fishes great in extra-small sizes.  Tie some up, I think you’ll be pleased.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Hook: Dai-Riki #280 sizes 10-14

Thread: UTC Ultra 140 or 70 Denier brown thread.

I use the UTC 140 denier for the larger size foam hopper patterns, and the 70 denier for any foam pattern size 14 and smaller.

Foam: 2mm cocoa craft foam.

Wing: Tan Crinkled Z-Lon

Legs: Square rubber legs from Blue Ribbon Fly Shop sold in tan, yellow and green.  Pattern looks pretty good with med. round legs also.

Post: 2mm orange or yellow craft foam.

Step 1

Step 1: Cut a strip of 2mm craft foam.  Strip of foam should be width of gap of hook and 2″ long.

Step 2

Step 2: Trim foam strip to a taper as shown.  Taper should be about half the length of the hook.

Step 3

Step 3: Build a thread base on the front 1/2 of the hook only.  I build a 3 layer thread base, then stop thread at point shown above. Right where the thread is hanging is where the foam strip is going to be tied in.

Step 4

Step 4: Pierce a hole in the foam strip as shown.  The hole should be placed a hook length from the tapered end of the foam strip and centered.

Step 5

Step 5: Remove hook from vise and slide foam strip onto hook through the pierced hole made in the previous step.

Step 6

Step 6: Slip foam strip up to the thread base. Tie-in point is where thread is hanging in Step 3. Bind foam strip on top of hook with 2-3 firm thread wraps.

Step 7

Step 7: Lightly stretch the strip of foam extending over eye of hook.  Pull strip of foam against eye of hook.  The hook eye should leave a mark in the foam.  Use a bodkin and pierce a hole in the foam as seen in photo above.

Step 8

Step 8: Tie in z-lon overwing.  For the overwing, you will want two strands of z-lon extending towards the tail of the hopper.  Either tie in two separate strands of z-lon at tie-in point above or double a single strand of z-lon over itself to form a two-strand z-lon wing. Trim wings to length of foam hopper body.

Step 9

Step 9: Form bullet head of the hopper.  Push eye of hook through the hole made in Step 7. Apply super-glue to exposed thread base.

Step 10

Step 10: Fold over foam strip to form a bullet head and cinch down foam with 2-3 firm thread wraps.  Notice there is no gap between bullet head and hook eye.  Cut off remaining foam strip as shown above.

Step 11

Step 11: Make a thread base for the legs.  Use 5-6 wraps of thread for the base. Notice that most of the hopper is all tied in at the same spot on the hook, therefore, keep thread wraps to a minimum.

Step 12

Step 12: Make the hopper legs by tying an over-hand knot in a 2″ strand of rubber leg material.  Repeat for other leg.

Step 13

Step 13: Tie in legs of hopper as shown.  Legs should be parallel to body and the knot of each leg should extend to bend of hook.

Step 14

Step 14: Bind down legs with 5-6 wraps of thread.

Step 15

Step 15: Cut a thin strip of 2mm yellow foam for the post.  The foam strip should be slightly narrower than the head of the hopper as shown above.

Step 16

Step 16: Bind down foam post with 2-3 firm thread wraps.  Notice tie-in point is right in the middle of thread base. Whip-finish at this point. Foam post should extend to barb of hook.

Step 17

Step 17: Trim remaining foam post as shown in photo above.

Step 18

Step 18: Top view of hopper.

Finished Improved Chaos Hopper

Step 19: Trim legs to desired length.  I trim the front legs to hook length, and portion of legs below the knots about half the length of the hook.

Improved Chaos Hopper

I hope you get lots of use out of this pattern this summer. Let me know how it works for you.

How to tie the Morrish’s Hopper

PATTERN DESCRIPTION:

The Morrish Hopper is probably the most realistic and effective foam hopper imitation tied for fly fishing. Late summer in Montana the trout are keying in on hoppers and other terrestrials and every fly fisherman knows this.  Once your standby patterns get refused or snubbed by the trout, it’s time to tie on a Morrish Hopper.  This pattern has the right profile with its carved and trimmed two tone foam body and enough wiggle with its rubber legs to fool any trout in any conditions. Although there are a number of steps in tying the Morrish Hopper, this fly is really quite easy to tie once you get the hang of trimming the foam body.

MATERIAL NEEDED:

Hook: Dai Riki 730 sz. 8-12

I use 2xl long nymph hooks for most of my foam hoppers.  I like the
durability and big gaps of these nymph hooks compared to fine wire dry fly hooks.

THREAD: UTC Ultra 140 denier

This is great thread for tying foam patterns because the thread lies flat, therefore,
doesn’t cut through the foam like braided or twisted threads.

CUTTER: Double-edged razor blades. Best tool for cutting through thick foam.  Very sharp and very thin.

FOAM: 2mm-4mm craft foam. Hopper body is carved out of  6mms of foam.

ADHESIVE: Flexible spray adhesive or brush on adhesive.  3M 77 Spray Adhesive or Contact Cement.

LEGS: Size medium barred legs.  Montana Fly Company med. barred legs. Gray/black or yellow/black.

POST: 2mm orange craft foam.

Step 1

STEP 1: Cut out three 2″x 3″ strips of 2mm craft foam.  Glue one side of all 3 pieces of foam with spray adhesive or contact cement and stack foam to form a 6mm thick foam block.  The darker pieces will form the upper body of the hopper, and the lighter foam piece will form the belly of the hopper.  The original Morrish Hopper has either 2mm’s of tan or goldenrod foam for the belly, and tan or cocoa 4mm for the upper body. ( 2mm goldenrod-4mm tan foam or 2mm tan-4mm cocoa)

Step 2

STEP 2: Trim about a 1/4″ wide strip off the foam block with double edge razor.  A size 10 Morrish Hopper should be cut 1/4″ wide.  Size 12 cut 3/16″ wide, size 8 cut 5/16″ wide.

Step 3

STEP 3: Notice the three marks on the foam strip labeled A,B, and C.  These marks will assist you in cutting foam to a pointed shape as seen in Step 5.

Step 4

STEP 4: Using a straight edge, carefully shape foam piece to a point.  Cut completely through the layers of foam from point A to point B and then from point A to point C.  Keep razor as vertical as possible while trimming foam.

Step 5

STEP 5: Foam piece should look like Step 5. Notice little trimmed wedges at top of photo are similar in size.  That’s what were after.

Steps 6-8

STEP 6-8: Follow photos 6-8.  Holding foam piece by the pointed end, carefully round the four long edges of the foam piece.  Try to cut each edge of foam with only one cut with the scissors.  Notice thin strip of foam in last photo that was trimmed off.  All you are doing is rounding the edges of the foam.  Cut the thinnest strips possible.

Step 9

STEP 9: Foam strip with rounded edges.

Step 10

STEP 10: Next, round the edges of the pointed end of foam piece. Notice angle of cut above.  Trim all four edges using this angle.

Step 11

STEP 11: You should now have a pointed and rounded piece of foam.

Steps 12-14

STEP 12-14: Shape tail which is the pointed end of fly.  First trim top of fly as shown in Step 12. Then trim off very point at angle shown in Step 13. In Step 14, notice how the light color of foam ends just short of upper dark piece of fly. Trim away light colored foam.

Step 15

STEP 15: Trim foam piece to desired length and round edges of head of foam piece.  Size 8 Morrish Hopper is about 1.5 inches long, size 10 is 1.25 inches long, and size 12 is 1 inch long.

Step 16

STEP 16: Here is a size 12 Morrish Hopper body that is 3/16″ wide and 1 inch long with rounded edges.

Step 17

STEP 17: Cut out notch on the bottom, lighter colored belly of the hopper with a double-edged blade.  Notice notch is less than 2mm deep… not all the way through the light colored foam.  Notch is about 2 eye lengths behind head of foam.

Step 18

STEP 18: On the bottom, or belly of the hopper, make a cut with the double-edged blade down the middle of the foam hopper.  Depth of cut is through first layer of foam only as seen in photo. Notice depth of cut, and that the cut goes to the notch only, not all the way to the head of the hopper.  This cut is where the hook will sit. See photo.

Step 19

STEP 19: Place hook in vise and make a thread base.  Advance thread to the middle of thread base or middle of hook.

Step 20

STEP 20: Position foam body on hook as shown.  Hook eye is in the cut out notch and the hook body is sitting inside the middle cut made in Step 18. Take two loose wraps of thread around the foam body, then cinch down the body with firm pressure.

Step 21

STEP 21: Lift up tail of hopper and apply just enough superglue to wet the thread wraps. Reposition tail of hopper onto hook, and squeeze tail of hopper around glued area.  Foam should cover and hide the body of the hook.

Step 22

STEP 22: Repeat step above.  Lift head of fly, apply very thin layer of glue to thread wraps, reposition head and squeeze head of hopper until glue dries.  Should take about 5 seconds for superglue to dry.

Step 23

STEP 23: Squeeze head of hopper onto hook.  Notice hook is no longer showing on the belly of the hopper.

Step 24

STEP 24: This is the finished hopper body glued to the hook.

Step 25

STEP 25: Trim a thin 1/8″ wide strip of orange 2mm foam and trim one end to a point.

Step 26

STEP 26: Attach foam post with one or two firm thread wraps.  Point of post should extend to bend of hook.

Step 27

STEP 27: Knot rubber legs as shown in photo above.  Front legs are a single strand of leg material, knotted, and about 2 inches long.  Back legs are 2 pieces of leg material knotted together, and 2 inches long.

Step 28

STEP 28: Tie back legs onto hopper.  The knots of the back legs should extend to just shy of the tail of the hopper.  Keep wraps to a minimum here.  8-10 wraps in all should hold everything in place.

Step 29

STEP 29: Trim legs as shown.  Advance thread over top of foam hopper half the distance to the eye of the hook.  Bind down foam with 2-3 very firm thread wraps.

Step 30

STEP 30: Bind down foam post with 1-2 wraps of thread.

Step 31

STEP 31: Tie in front legs on both sides of hopper.  Knots on front legs should extend to bend of hook.

Step 32

STEP 32: Whip finish fly at this point.  Front legs might twist on you, but you should be able to reposition them after you whip finish the fly. Add eyes to hopper with black marker.

Finished Morrish Hopper Trout View

STEP 33: Finish trimming all legs to desired length.  Apply superglue to thread wraps and knots in legs for extra durability.

Finished Morrish Hopper

You now have a finished Morrish Hopper.  Tie yourself up a handful of these this winter and give them a try this summer.  Have fun experimenting with different body and leg colors and let me know which ones work the best for you.

Early Spring Fly Fishing

Early spring fly fishing, or as we call it here in Montana, late winter fly fishing, is not for everyone.  You pretty much look for a break in the cold, wintery weather, say temps above freezing, and no wind…good luck.  Starting in Feb. we begin to see signs of insect life on our local rivers. If there are insects moving around, figure there are fish that haven’t eaten much all winter looking for a meal, even if it’s a bug the size of a pin head like a midge. Midges show up in good numbers towards the end of Feb. and early March, and then the Baetis show up in early April. If you can handle the cold, early spring can offer some fantastic fishing opportunities.

Deep nymph fishing, or indicator fishing is the ticket in the slower, deeper sections of the river when there are no insects crawling around or hatching. I like to tie on two nymphs below an indicator with some split shot.  First, I tie on a big attractor nymph size 8-12, like a copper john, then a little midge imitation size 14-20, like a black zebra midge. Once the water temps warm up a bit, the hatches increase in intensity and duration.  The fish will start to move out of the deeper wintering holes, and get closer to the source of the hatch. Riffle corners will be loaded with fish eating both on the surface and sub-surface. A dry- dropper is killer in these situations, as is a single dry on those perfectly calm days.  When fishing a dry dropper, I like to fish a high-vis Baetis pattern, like a size 14-18 olive parachute hare’s ear.  For a dropper, add 12 inches of 5x tied to the bend of your dry fly hook with a beadhead midge of choice, like a size 18 zebra midge. This combo will get it done about 90% of the time if fish are looking for midges or Baetis in calmer water.  In flat, shallow water, a single dry might be the way to go since the splash or plop of a beadhead nymph could spook that steadily rising trout.  Once the Baetis start hatching, usually in late March, or early April, the dry dropper is still the preferred method.

Observation and stealth is key in early spring fishing when the trout have moved out of the deeper water and are keyed in on midge or Baetis activity.  The fish are not real spooky this time of year, instead, you will notice that the midging trout want to eat those small insects without wasting any energy.  So look for fish in shallow, slow water next to good holding water.  There are many days where I’ll never get my boots wet because I recognized that the fish were feeding just inches off the the bank, lazily sipping midges off the surface of the water.  If the fish are in just inches of water, use a dry fly of choice, like a size 18 Griffith’s Gnat, or Baetis  pattern of choice if the blue-winged olives are hatching.  Look around the river and at different types of water.  The fish seem to pod up this time of year, and all eat in certain types of water.  Look for rising active fish in riffle corners, slower current seams and boulder seams, wind protected banks, and the edges of tailouts.  If you see one active fish, there should be others close by.

I think the observation game is my favorite part of early spring fly fishing. It’s more of a sneak-and-destroy type of fishing.  Small flies, low gin-clear water, and happy fish are what you’ll get if you play your cards right. This is the best time of year to be able to catch some nice trout inches off the bank in the middle of the afternoon with dry flies.  Once the weather warms up and the not so die-hard, less than hard core, smart fisherman start trampling up and down the bank, wading out in knee deep water  (purely out of habit), slapping the water with giant bobbers, pushing those happy bank feeding fish out to depths unknown… where was I…

Anyways, grab those gloves, a couple pairs of thick wool socks, long-johns, a thick fleece sweater, jacket and your beanie and go wet a line. By the way, put a little Ginks on those guides before you go out, this helps slow down the process of your guides freezing when that wind does decide to pick up right in the middle of the best midge hatch of the year.  Let me know how it goes.  Hope to see you out there, just not on my river!

Yellowstone River

the Yellowstone River in January

As you can see from the photo, we still have snow on the ground in downtown Livingston, MT and it is snowing as I write. Current snow pack for the Yellowstone River drainage is sitting at 75% of normal as of Feb. 4, 2010.  Not to worry though, since the last couple of springs have been very wet.  Forecast is calling for some more snow in the coming weeks with mild temps – daytime highs in the mid 20′s -mid 30′s.

Fishing should start to pick up on the Yellowstone and surrounding rivers towards the end of February with the fish eating midges, both dries and nymphs.  Great time of year to be fishing… hungry fish and very few fisherman.  So get out there if you can!

How to tie the Chubby Chernobyl

Chubby Chernobyl

Pattern Description:

The Chubby Chernobyl has been a great fly the last couple of years, if not the Top Fly for fishing the Madison or Yellowstone Rivers in Montana. This high floating fly is virtually  unsinkable and very easy to see on the water with its high upright wing. The Chubby Chernobyl is a great general searching pattern that can be used to imitate Salmon Flies, Golden Stones, or hoppers depending on size and color.  The Chubby also makes an incredible hopper-dropper fly due to its high buoyancy and easy visibility in all types of water.  I like to fish this fly in black, tan, brown, pink  and green body colors.  This fly is easy to tie and very durable, so tie up a few, you won’t be disappointed.

Materials Needed

Hook: Dai Riki 730 sz. 8-12.

I use 2xl long nymph hooks instead of dry fly hooks for most of my hoppers.  These are stronger hooks with a big gap and them seem more durable than dry fly hooks.

Thread: UTC  Ultra 140 Denier

This is a great thread for tying foam patterns because the thread lies flat, therefore, doesn’t cut through the foam like braided or twisted threads.

Dubbing: SLF Kaufmann Golden Stone or Dave Whitlock Golden Brown

Tail: Pearl Crystal Flash

Foam: 2mm tan craft foam

Wing: Synthetic white poly

My favorite poly is McFlylon.  I have also used EP Fiber and Ice Fur with good results.  Straight poly yarn also works, just seems to become waterlogged quicker than the other poly material.  McFlylon seems to keep its shape best and comes in perfect sized strands for wings on sizes 8-12 flies.

Legs: Sili Legs pumpkin/green

Step 1 and 2

Step 1: Start the thread base at the eye of the hook and wrap back to the barb of the hook.  For a more durable fly, wrap a 2 to 3 layer thread base.

Step 2: Tie in crystal flash tail on top of hook.  Tail should be about twice the gap of hook in length.

Step 3

Step 3: Apply dubbing to entire fly working back and forth making a nice robust tapered body.  The body should look like a nymph body at this point with the thread ending at the point of the hook.

Step 4

Step 4: Trim a piece of 2mm tan foam to shape, or use a medium sized chernobyl foam cutter. The foam body piece should be as wide as the hook gap and about 2 inches long.

Step 5

Step 5: Tie down foam piece on top of hook with a dozen wraps or so.  As you bind down the body, make a small gap in the foam (see phot0). Back of foam body should extend to end of tail.

Step 6

Step 6: Tie in wing material and extend wing to end of tail and body.  Wing material should be at least two inches long because it is going to be folded over in next step.

Step 7

Step 7: Fold over front half of wing material and tie down directly over the top of the lower wing.  Notice the tie down is directly above the point of the hook. Trim to same length as lower wing.

Step 8

Step 8: Make a thread base for legs.  Attach about a 2 inch strand of sili legs on each side of fly.  Legs should be tied in so the legs are parallel with the foam body.

Step 9 and 10

Step 9: Apply thin layer of dubbing to thread and fill in gap between legs of fly. Advance dubbed thread to front of fly, just behind the eye of the hook.

Step 10: Tie down foam body just behind eye of hook and make another gap in the body like step 5. Tie in wing material and extend lower wing to end of tail and body.

Step 11 and 12

Step 11: Repeat step 7. Bind down top half of wing directly over the top of lower wing.  Notice tie down of upper wing is towards the back of the gap in the body, about 2 eye lengths behind the eye of the hook.  Trim the upper wing to length, same as the lower wing.

Step 12: Make thread base for the legs and tie in sili legs on both sides of body.  Again, tie legs in parallel to foam body.  Apply thin layer of dubbing, just enough to fill in gap in front of wing.

Step 13

Step 13: Pull back foam head and whip finish directly behind the eye of the hook.

The Trout's view of the Chubby Chernobyl

Step 14: Trim head of fly to shape and trim the legs to desired length.  I usually like the legs about the length of the hook.

Send me some photos of your finished Chubby Chernobyls and let me know how they work out for you.

Online Fly Fishing Magazines

No longer do you have to go to your local bookstore, library, or fly shop to get your fish porn fix. Check out Catch Magazine and This Is Fly. These are two online magazines I have been looking at that offer fly fishing related photos and short videos.  Catch Magazine has some incredible imagery along with some photography advice to improve your own photos.

Are there any others you can suggest? Am I missing out on something amazing that I just have to see?  Please share your favorites with all of us.  Have you already seen the two that I mentioned?  What do you think about them?

The Beauty of Foam Hoppers

Sanchez foam wing hopper

Where do I even begin…

Livingston, Montana is a great place to fish hoppers late in the season.  Being a fishing guide and avid fisherman myself I have had many opportunities to try out every kind of hopper imaginable.  I love tying flies and coming up with my own variations on tried -and-true patterns.  Every summer I try to outdo the last with a better hopper.  When talking about foam hoppers what it eventually boils down to is that they are virtually unsinkable, fun to tie, and most importantly, from time to time fish mistake them for the real thing!

I’ve had fish eat tan, yellow, brown, black, green, goldenrod, peach, pink, and purple, yes pink and purple, foam hoppers.  Almost every color of buoyant craft foam available from either fly shops or craft stores, has wound up on one of my foam hoppers. Add to that the availability of leg material in small, medium, large, round, flat, barred, with or without glitter, etc… in every color you can imagine, you start seeing the endless possibilities of foam and rubber.

Hoppers have come a long way from the timeless deer hair creations, including Joe’s hopper, Dave’s hopper, and the fly that may have started the synthetic craze, the Madam-X with those silly white rubber legs. Hoppers don’t have white legs, but for some reason, white rubber legs drive trout nuts.  I can’t even count the number of trout I’ve fooled on white rubber legged flies like the Turk’s Tarantula, Madame-X, Sanchez Convertible series of flies, bitch creeks and yuk bugs.  Sinking or floating, white rubber legs, or any colored rubber legs, just attract fish. Combine the floating qualities of foam, plus rubber legs to a hook, what you get are fish.

Foam floats, rubber legs wiggle. Fish love it. Enough said

What do you think?  Do you enjoy fishing with foam hoppers as much as I do or do you refuse to fish with foam?  What are some of your favorite patterns and most successful colors?