I took some time developing this fly. I see the basic weakness in a lot of fly design stemming from the creator thinking they know what the natural looks like and then creating something that falls short. For the creation of the hopper I took live specimens from three different regions, stuck pins through them, and stuck those pins into my tying table. I looked at them and fussed with possible patterns for seven months until getting the first real prototype.

This is the best-selling hopper in the US for several reasons. First and foremost is the profile, which is spot on. The other key elements are limber rubber legs with angled joints, its specific density and how it sits deep in the film, two toned body and color selections, high-vis locator patch and its unusual ability to catch micro currents and move about unpredictably on the surface. Tan and pink in sizes 8-12 are generally the best sellers and most effective.

While these flies fish well on a standard dead drift, many anglers like to chug them a few times after landing or chug them continuously. Try it.