Hopper Pattern

Does anyone have an easy, but effective, hopper pattern for western Montana? I am heading there in a couple of weeks and wanted to tie a few before I go.

Thanks,

 

Joe's Hopper is my favorite and it's easy to tie. SS

 

Try a BLT hopper. It is 3 layers of foam and rubber legs. there is a pic on the Cabela's website under terrestrials...

 

for any of the freestones...foamy chernobyl type stuff with rubberlegs work really good in all colors and sizes #4-12...for tailwaters and spring creeks i like more natural looking patterns like stalcups, daves, and rainy's in sizes #6-12...go to any of the major fly vendor sites (montana fly, rainy's, solitude) and look for a pattern you can tie quickly and effectively...then tie a lot of them ( i tend to lose a lot of hoppers tryin to stick um tight to the undercuts and bushes)

 

This guy slayed 'em in Yellowstone last year. Tan, yellow and light green. However, we found that beetles were even more effective than hoppers. You could tie on a hopper with a beetle dropper and the beetle would get taken more often.

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/details.cfm?parentID=164

 

heres a new one for ya



http://www.riverroadcreations.com/HopperBody.htm

 

Those hopper cutters are the sh!t! I'm waiting to get my tying room set back up, after relinquishing it to become the baby's nursery, to buy that set. A lot of extra work was done with the foam to get it to look that good, but I have seen some that were just cut out and put together and they still make pimp ass hopper patterns!

 

Clophopper is a pretty easy pattern.

 

Klod hopper (yes its spelled with a K) its easy to tie is basically a cross between a daves hopper and a foam hopper I've had grat success in Colorado with it.

 

clophopper I kinda fat-fingered that one....thanks for the correction sean

 

Thats the guy I was looking for earlier, the Klod Hopper also did very well in Yellowstone in both yellow and Tan. I used white legs on mine, but I colored the tips or feet red with a sharpie.

 

para-hoppers always work well for me in Colorado and Utah. Worth a shot. Easy to tie too.

 

At least for the deer hair head hoppers, you can always do the Whitlock trick and Zap-a-Gap a sprig of Mason hard nylon into the bottom of the head to work as a weed guard. I imagine you could poke a small hole in the foam and do the same thing.

 

Thanks for all of the tips. I will start tying some tomorrow

 

One thing to keep in mind when tying some of the foam patterns is that if you tie them in smaller sizes 14-18, make sure not to make too many or too tight of thread wraps around the foam. I found that in the smaller sizes if I tightened the thread too tight or used too many wraps than it decreased the floatability of the foam and I had to continually dress them with floatant. However, I also found that trout like sunken hoppers nearly as much as ones floating on the surface. Also, if you only tie a couple colors (yellow and tan) it helps to have a couple markers with you to "match the hatch." The prismacolor markers in light green, dark green and brown came in very handy.