Clay’s Hopper By Dirk Burton Materials: Size 10 or 12 streamer hook Rayon embroidery thread in contrasting colors Craft foam 6/0 thread matching craft foam color Dubbing to match craft foam color Round rubber legs (I like barred style) in medium and small sizes Marking pens in various colors Using a pair of pliers, open the gap of the hook slightly, then bend the shank slightly downward toward the rear so when you weave the butt section it has a more bug like appearance.  Start your thread just behind the eye and wrap back into the curve of the hook.  Tie in a four or five grizzly hackle fibers at the back of the hook. Tie in six or seven inches of rayon weaving material, one color on each side of hook up to about the halfway point on the shank. Wrap tying thread forward, throw in a half hitch, and cut off thread so you can start your weave. Using overhand knot weave, make an abdomen section to just past the halfway mark on the hook shank. Start your thread again and tie off the ends of your weaving material. Trim the ends. Make a dubbing loop and apply dubbing forward nearly to the hook eye.  Make a couple of wraps back to just where the woven body ends and tie off. Let your bobbin hang here until the next step. Cut an isosceles triangle from the craft foam. It should measure approximately 5/8ths of an inch by 7/8ths of an inch. Hold the piece of foam up to the body of the fly and it should extend from right behind the eye to just past the end of the abdomen.   Place a couple of drops of superglue on the underside of the foam where it lined up with your bobbin when you checked the foam length in the above step. Folding the foam triangle in half lengthwise, but not closed tightly, place it over your hook and tie it in with a fair amount of pressure to begin making the segmented thorax. Take a three inch length of rubber leg material, double it and tie a knot in it. Cut the front loop, and trim one of the forks in the rear to make a hopper leg. Slip this leg under the last wrap of thread on the near side of the hopper. Make another wrap or two with your thread staying in the same channel for all of these wraps. Repeat the above step and position the second leg on the far side of the hopper. Make a couple of more wraps in the channel and tie in a half hitch. The legs are now complete. Slip the thread under the foam and bring it forward to about 1/8 inch behind end of foam. Make a couple of fairly tight wraps over the foam to put the second segment in the thorax and create the hopper’s head. The head should almost look like a Crease Fly from the front. Slip the thread forward under the foam once more, make some wraps right behind the eye of the hook, whip finish and apply a drop of head cement. Take a bodkin and make a hole completely through both sides of the head above where the eyes will be. Run a threader through the holes and insert a piece of small rubber leg material in it. Pull it back through to make the antennae. Put a drop of head cement on rubber next to the foam and pull this part back into head to glue it in. Put a drop of head cement where legs are attached to body and on knots in legs. Color foam accordingly using waterproof pens
	BACK TO FLY TYING HOME