Hoppers

[grannyknot]

I've been having lots of takes on hoppers lately, but it seems like I only hook one out of every ten. They'll chase the hopper right downstream, snapping at it, but not sticking to it. I've been using Daves' hoppers, because I've been fishing mostly Cochrane and upstream, and the hoppers there are light cream color. I was wondering if anyone knows a light pattern that fish stick to? Or is there something I can do to a Daves' hopper, or my technique, that might help me hook a few more of these fish? I've been fishing runs with a hopper to find the fish, then going back through with an Adams to hook some of them. Thanks for any input any of you might have.

Mike

[toolman]

I would try a smaller size and/or maybe change the presentation from dead drift to a swing etc. Sometimes a different pattern is needed as well. Also, I sometimes put weight on the leader 10" up from the fly to sink the hopper below the film and then swing it or drift it. Hoppers usually sink when they get blown on to the water.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

if they're snapping at it, then your problem is not matching the hopper...Trim the hackle off the bottom of the hopper, especially if you're not getting solid hooksets. A lot of the time the hackle will block the hook, therefore lowering your catching

[wongrs]

I read an article a while back stressing the colouration of hoppers as different species can have different colours/markings. They talked about matching the colour to produce the best results. I think it was an FAOL article but I can't remember and a 5-minute search didn't turn up anything.

 

Try checking the colour of the hoppers by the water your fishing and compare with what you're chucking out there. Might be the difference between yellow/green/brown/tan body colour. I myself haven't fished hoppers much so I couldn't tell you from my own experience.

[grannyknot]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Brent, I trimmed the hackle and cut half the legs off a Daves' today, and landed 3 fish out of 6 bites, quite the improvement. Thanks again.