I've mentioned in quite a few posts that the AZ mini-hopper has been killing it for me. I'm serious. I've probably caught at least 200 fish so far this year on this fly. It's taken largemouth, smallmouth, bluegill, crappie, bows, and a brown. At first I had trouble with the bass on it. It was a little small for them. I decided to tweak the original to make it work. First, I double stacked the foam. This made it look like a bigger meal, and it floats much better this way. I also went bigger on the hook size. Bass started to get more peirced lips when I moved down to sizes 8-10 from the 12-14 I was doing well with for panfish and trout. Finally, I was watching Craven's video on tying the Charlie Boy Hopper and I liked how his hair stuck up high on the top of the fly. I started stacking the deer hair above the foam, also increasing the size of the fly. That's about all that was needed. The contrast of the orange foam and legs against the green ice dubbed body seems to work the best for me.
I'm not sure what the bass take it as, but it sure as hell does work. These are really easy to tie and since I primarily use them for bass, they can be sloppy.
Size 8 Mustad Standard Dry Fly Hook
2mm Craft Foam, stacked using spray adhesive
Orvis Caddis Green Ice Dubbing
Deer Hair
3/0 Brown Monocord
I agree it's a killer tie. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteVery nice and thanks for the plug. I like the adaptations too. Glad these guys have been working out for you.
ReplyDeleteBen