HOPPERS & CRICKETS

---

Whilst there are over 2000 species of Grasshoppers and Locust in Australia there are really only three "hoppers" that are of significance to fly fishers.

Hoppers are normally fished as dry flies but it is worth noting that as some hoppers drown and sink and consequently fishing a hopper pattern wet or drowned can result in some spectacular success.

General form and colour together with presentation and how you fish them will help you fool the fish. Whether fished dry or wet by in large all hopper patterns should be fished in the current with as little line drag as possible or with occasional short jerking strips or twitches.

The largest hoppers, and generally the most significance to fly fishers are actually a Locust from the sub-family Gastrimargus and are commonly described as the “Yellow Winged Hoppers”. Whilst wingless hoppers and trouser-brace hoppers generally only hop/fly up to 4 meters at a time yellow winged hoppers can take to the wind and flights from 10-50 metres at a time are the norm. When they appear, like most locust, they are generally in large numbers. They are very large when mature being from 30-40 mm in length and whilst the dominant colour is green as they mature their colouring can lean toward browns and even charcoal. In flight large yellow wings banded by dark grey at the tips dominate them. From a fly tying point of view the ventral side of the abdomen tends to be a cream or buff in colour and they have wing casings extending beyond the body. They have stout bodies (5:1) and strong-hinged legs and the underside of the thighs range from pink to claret.  GO TO YELLOW WINGED HOPPER
The second significant hoppers are from the sub-family Praxibulus and from a fly fishers point of view are best described as “Trouser–brace Hoppers”. The reason for this description is that all members of this sub-family exhibit a dark grey line along each side of the dorsal side of the abdomen. From a fly tiers point of view these hoppers are up to 30 mm in length and the dominant colour can range from green through to a grayish brown. The ventral side of the abdomen tends to be a creamy straw colour and as indicated above there is a dark grey line along each side of the dorsal side of the abdomen darker. They have stout bodies (4:1) and strong-hinged legs that are the same general colour as the body. Their wings are mere stubs.
The third hopper of significance to fly fishers is of the sub-family Phaulacridium and commonly referred to as “Wingless Hoppers” even though the adult stages do have either sub-wings or fully developed wings. From a fly tiers point of view these hoppers are around 20 mm in length when mature and the dominant colour is a greyish brown with the ventral side of the abdomen tending toward a creamy straw colour. They have stout bodies (4:1) and strong hinged legs that may be tinged orange on the outside and / or yellow on the inside.

My bullet nosed foam hopper has a general hopper type form and function and works well in smaller sizes as a representation of a Trouser-Brace hopper or Wingless hopper and in larger sizes with a yellow foam body as a representation of a Yellow Winged hopper. The incorporation of foam and deer make this a particularly good fast water fly or a fly that will support a wet fly quite comfortably in a dry / wet two fly team.
 

A) Wind thread along the hook shank in touching turns and return the thread to the eye of the hook. Tie in a bunch of  deer hair that extends in front of  the hook a distance equal to about one and a half times the length of  the shank.
B) Cut a piece of closed cell foam that is about 3/4 the width of the gape of the hook, about twice as long as the hook shank and finished with a V at the tail end. Tie The closed cell foam on top of the hook shank with the V extending behind the fly.
C) Lightly dub a body over the tied in section of the closed cell foam returning the thread to the 2/3 position on the hook shank.
D) Tie in a pair of rubber legs at the two thirds position.
E) Pull the deer hair back over the head are of the fly. Take several wraps of thread at the 2/3 position. Whip finish the thread at the 2/3 position, trim the thread and varnish the finishing thread.