Most hopper patterns don’t really look like hoppers.  So I came up with one that does.  It has been in the works for some time, and finally I feel like it is pretty close to complete.  I may tweak a few things here and there, but I am very happy with the profile and body this fly creates.  I also love the Cream color of Rainy’s foam, it’s very close to a lot of hopper’s natural colors.  I use other colors as well, the Cross Link Foam is the prefect foam for this pattern.  It allows the body to be molded with out cutting into the foam and it floats low in the water as well.
It holds a dropper nicely with out sinking.

The legs may up for changing, but honestly I don’t think it matters too much.  I would bet this fly would fish well without any legs at all… well it actually has in the past, just in a different body scheme. Enjoy.

Anyway, the rivers were really crowded due to the nice weather.  As Jitterbug and I drove up Provo canyon, the combat fishing was in full force.  Looks like my days on the Lower Provo are over till next fall.  I went to my usual “get away from the crowds” on the middle provos and started fishing.  No fish were rising as usual, so nymphing was the tactic used today.

A couple new flies were tested and both caught fish.  One scud pattern and a bigger nymph/stonefly pattern.  Both are still in need of tweaks, so I won’t post them for now since they will surely change.  But they have promise.

I did manage to land one of the healthiest browns I have seen on this section of the river.  It’s belly looked like it was going to burst.  It was a porker.

Glad spring is in the air finally.  I will most likely be heading to do some stillwater fishing shortly (I have done so a couple times but with not much luck due to the recent storms).  It’s great to see the usual fly fishing sun tan on the hands again.