| 1/ Start
by tying in your thread. This time we will start near
the rear of the fly as we want to leave the hook shank
bare in places so that the deer hair spins more easily.
We are using a green thread as the hopper we are tying
is more the early season version that is not yet brown.
Tie in as shown and move onto the next step.. |
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| 2/ Next
up grab your bunch of orange pheasant tippets. These
are handy to have on your bench as they are a fundamental
part of a large number of Australian fly patterns, especially
the beetles and grasshoppers. Trim a small bunch of
them, and measure off against the gape of the hook.
Tie in at the rear as shown. When they are secured trim
the excess. |
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| 3/ Get
your chenille out and break a piece off. I usually tie
a bunch of hoppers in the one sitting so a long piece
of eighteen inches or so should suffice. Now strip the
fibres away from the thread centre as shown so that you
have a nice section to tie in with. While not that important
when tying hoppers we should always try and minimise any
unnecessary bulk where possible. |
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| 4/ Tie
the piece of chenille in. You can use green chenille
for this hopper but the hint of yellow we have found
works better than an all green hopper. Chenille for
these flies should be sourced from haberdashery stores
rather than from fly shops as considerable savings can
be made. |
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| 5/ Now
that the chenille is ready to go pull it down and out
of the way and secure it against the thread to make
a sort of rope. This kills two birds with the one stone.
Instead of winding the thread forward and then the chenille
you do both at the same time which is much more efficient.
Also it strengthens the chenille, giving it binding
as it is wrapped. |
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| 6/ Now
make the body of the fly using the chenille rope you
just constructed in the previous step. Wind the chenille
in a clockwise direction around the hook shank moving
forward with each wrap until you reach the mid way mark.
This will make an attractive body. |
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| 7/ The
body of the hopper is now almost complete. Tie off the
chenille with the thread binding it hard against the hook
shank. Take a couple of extra wraps to make sure it is
secure and then trim the excess chenille. This is about
the ideal amount of chenille and it is typical of the
version we tie for the shop. Next up we do some of the
fiddly stuff. |
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| 8/ Grab
your pheasant tippets again. Select a smaller bunch
this time, the same sort of length but just little sparser.
Tie this in, almost parallel to the hook shank bit angled
at roughly 35 degrees out from the hook when viewed
from above (see Step 9 photo). This represents the flash
of orange given off by the inside edge of the hoppers
legs. |
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| 9/ This
is the same step as the previous one just shown from above
rather than from the side. You can see exactly how the
legs should be positioned. We will repeat this process
on the other side now and then trim the excess. |
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| 10/ As
in the previous step we will add legs to the near side
of the fly. Tie in this side legs as per the the steps
just completed. One thing I should mention is to not make
the first turns too tight as you do not want the pheasant
tippets to flare too much. Start tying them with loose
turns nearer the chenille and then getting tighter as
you move forward towards the hook eye. |
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| 11/ Again
I have put in the extra photos to show you what you
should now have. A pair of legs angled back as shown
in this and the previous photo. I like to take a couple
of extra turns over the two 'stubbs' to the right of
the chenille to really bind the pheasant tippets in
place. Once you are happy with the way your fly is looking
trim the excess and move on. |
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| 12/ Find
your pheasant feather that you wish to use for the overwing.
We like a mottled on to give the fly a nice pattern
as per the naturals. Tie this feather in shiny side
up, making sure that it just overhangs the rear of the
hook. Secure with a few wraps and trim. |
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| 13/ This
is the view from above of the previous step. Don't worry
too much about getting a perfect shape to the over wing,
or for that matter any part of this fly. One leg slightly
longer than the other, a tail too short or too long, an
overwing not perfectly; placed will make one iota of difference
to the way this fly sits of performs. |
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| 14/ Taking
you deer hair cut a small bunch from your yellow and a
small bunch from your green/olive. I will not give specifics
as to exactly how much as this is something for you to
learn by practising. Stack the hair between your fingers,
letting the hair tips fall on their points on the bench.
Pinch in on top of the hook, split the thread as in step
11 of the Miss
Knobby X and tie in. Don't spin this section. |
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| 15/ Push
the deer hair you just tied in towards the rear of the
fly with the thumb and fingers of your right hand to make
way for the next bunch. Take another stack of mixed deer
hair, mostly green and spin onto the hook shank. Spinning
deer hair takes a few goes to learn so don't get too frustrated
with your early attempts if they don't go to plan. |
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| 16/ Again
push back the deer hair to make room for the next lot
of deer hair by pushing back as shown. You can use a biro
tube for this but I like the gentle control only possible
by using your fingers. The only word of caution needed
is in relation to pricking your fingers when doing this.
While not a real problem and those of you tying a bit
will soon develop tough skin on your finger tips pretty
quickly. |
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| 17/ I
thought we need one more bunch of hair here so I have
added some more. You can pack the hair in as dense as
you like. Some use a little less, some use a lot more.
Use your discretion and remember that while this is an
excellent, tried and true pattern there are no absolutes
in flytying. |
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| 18/ Now
instead of whip finishing we are going to do something
much simpler and quicker. Use a tube, or the end of a
dubbing needle to add three half hitches. You can see
here that all we have done is added a loop to the tube
by wrapping the line around the tube. You then simply
slide this knot down over the eye and pull tight. Two
to three of these with no head cement is all that is needed
to finish off. |
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| 19/ Trim
the fly as shown. You want a bulky head so don't make
radical incisions, rather use small cuts and then check
it as you go. If you have a rotational vice like I do,
trim it off in the vice. Continually turning it over to
make sure it looks right. |
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| 20/ This
is the view from above. A bulky head is very important
when imitating grasshoppers. The green coloration is desirable
early on in the season and this fly works well on all
waters where hoppers are found. It is particularly good
on the Rubicon. |
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