Hopper Species

[Curtis Fry]

As I've been tying up some hopper patterns lately, I'm racking my brains to remember the colors of different hoppers I've come across.. In order to narrow it down, does anyone happen to know the major species of hoppers around these parts? I imagine the answer might be "there are 1000 species in Utah alone". I'm just trying to remember the most common color combos on the bugs around. I've got the tan/green/yellow colors covered, but I'm shooting for more realistic representations.

Thanks...

[Improv]

I have come across many hoppers from light gray to very dark charcoal gray. Wing colors from white, red, yellow and purple.

[Skwala]

In my limited experience, the only other combination that stands out would be red and black. There is a hopper out there that flies more than jumps and makes a lot of noise when it does. If memory serves me it has a dark grey to black body, and bright red wings that are exposed when it gets out of dodge.
The wings may even have some dark markings as well.

Hope that helps.

[powerbait]

When I was a kid, we fished live hoppers all the time. Deadly. Funny thing was, only one kind of hopper worked really well: they are a smaller, compact hopper, about a size 12, blue-gray on top and kind of a light gray or light cream underneath. The coolest thing about them was that they sank, and the takes were always subsurface (we typically used a single split shot to help get 'em down quicker). I still see them around, and if you kick up a bunch of hoppers in the grass, I'd guess they account for about one in five.

[Taxon]

Curtis-

For photos of grasshoppers, look here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/73/bgimage.

Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

[powerbait]

Nice link, Taxon. Now I think I've pegged the hopper of my youth: the California hopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes. Next time someone asks me "what are they hitting?" I'm gonna tell 'em that: Melanoplus sanguinipes.

[powerbait]

Nice link, Taxon. Now I think I've pegged the hopper of my youth: the California hopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes. Next time someone asks me "what are they hitting?" I'm gonna tell 'em that: Melanoplus sanguinipes.

[F/V Gulf Ventur]

This one is sweet!

[SnakesOnAPlane]

This one is sweet!


Isn't that one called Darth Maulicus Orthopterus?

[F/V Gulf Ventur]

Isn't that one called Darth Maulicus Orthopterus?

The caption on the photo...."cute grasshopper nymph"...lol....

Looks like it would bust out a saber and let the fish know who is boss.

[gnfishn]

I came across some really funky sh*t green ones once and tried to figure out what they were. I came to the conclusion they were just your everyday hopper that Flysmith had used to wipe his arse with!