Sunken Hoppers

[LBM]

These 90 degree days have got me thinking about hopper fishing. Last night, I pulled out Gary Lafontaine's book, "The Dry Fly, New Angles" and reread the chapter on his Grasshopper Study. In this book he advocates using a weighted Joe's Hopper, fished wet, instead of the traditional dry patterns most fisherman use. I've never fished a sunken hopper, but plan on trying it this summer. I just did a google search on "Sunken Hopper patterns" and didn't return any hits. Anybody fish hoppers wet? Got a favorite pattern?


Larry

[Crosby]

All terrestrials get "sunk" at sometime or another- no different than sinking a cricket pattern ot this morning at the end of my fishing- I sank a stonefly for my last two fish.

[seabass]

When I was a kid learning to flyfish on the Logan River I didn't even know that fly floatant existed. As a result, all of the shoddy parachute hoppers I tied would sink after a few casts. But I soon found that a sunken hopper was a great way to catch fish, whether fished on a dead drift or even when tugged around a little bit underwater. Now when I want to fish a sunken hopper I just use a regular parachute hopper pattern without the parachute. I tie the hackle in thorax-style, then trim it on top and leave it long on the sides and bottom. It looks a little weird, but it works for me.