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Dave's Hopper
A terrestrial, tied #8–12, a summer pattern. It is tied against 2 named insects in this book — May–September. Dave Whitlock.
A clipped-hair terrestrial on a 3X long dry-fly hook in sizes 8–12, tied with yellow 6/0 thread. The underbody is yellow floss ribbed with brown hackle and clipped; over it goes a body of yellow deer hair spun and clipped, or yellow poly yarn; the legs are knotted pheasant tail fibres, the wing is mottled turkey quill over deer hair, and the head is spun deer hair clipped square. Dave Whitlock originated it. All that hair gives the fly mass, and the mass is the function: it lands heavily, with the right kind of thud, and then sits low in the surface, which is what a hopper does when it falls in. Fished through summer against the Grasshopper, Acrididae, July–September at water temperatures of 60–80°F. Trout and smallmouth bass both take it, and it is the classic form of the pattern.
- #8–12Hook size
- terrestrialType
- SummerSeason
- 2Hatches matched
What it looks like
A drawing, not a photograph, and not traced from one. Its proportions were read off 5 independent reference photographs of the pattern and written down as 5 measured characteristics — wing angle, tail length against the shank, how far a hackle fibre reaches — every one of which had to hold across more than one of them before it could be drawn. What survives across many photographs of a fly is the fly.
What it imitates
Each of these is the same hatch record the app's own panel reads, so a pattern recommended on a river card in the app is recommended for one of the insects below.
- Grasshopper Acrididae · July–September · 60–80°F · #8–12
- Periodical Cicada Magicicada spp. · May–June · 55–78°F · #4–8
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades; Dave Whitlock. — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | 3X long dry-fly hook, sizes 8–12 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Yellow 6/0 |
| Body | Yellow deer hair, spun and clipped, or yellow poly yarn |
| Underbody | Yellow floss ribbed with brown hackle, clipped |
| Legs | Knotted pheasant tail fibres |
| Wing | Mottled turkey quill over deer hair |
| Head | Spun deer hair, clipped square |
When to fish it
The classic clipped-hair hopper. It lands heavily and sits low, which is what a hopper does.
A summer pattern. The insects it matches are active may–september, in water from 55°F to 80°F.
Target species
- Trout
- Smallmouth bass
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Escanaba River the Upper Peninsula · July mean 68.3°F
- Saint Croix River northern Wisconsin · July mean 77.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Foam Beetle terrestrial · #12–18 — Black foam, a bit of flash on top. The most reliable summer dry on wooded streams.
- Foam Cicada terrestrial · #6–12 — Black foam body, orange legs, bright indicator wing. Big, ugly and fished with a deliberate splat.
- Morrish Hopper terrestrial · #8–12 — Foam, indestructible, and floats a heavy dropper all day.
- Black Cricket terrestrial · #10–14 — Late summer into October, after the hoppers thin out.
- Foam Inchworm terrestrial · #12–16 — A length of bright green foam and nothing else. Cast tight to overhanging hardwood; the natural arrives from above, not from upstream.