Parachute Hopper Variant

Hook: Tiemco 5212 - 2xl, 2xf

Size: 10

Thread: 8/0 tan

Underbody: Foam, yellow segmented with tying thread

Overbody: Haretron dubbing, tan or palmered Ostrich herl, tan or light brown

Legs: Pheasant tail fibers tied in a knot for the joint

Underwing: Krystal Flash

Wing: Turkey, sprayed with Krylon Workable Fixatif

Post: Antron, white

Thorax: Haretron, tan

Hackle: Grizzly

Notes: I played around with plenty of hopper patterns and most of them worked just fine in the broken water of freestone streams. Most of them failed on tailwaters like the Missouri River as fish after fish came up, took a look and then flipped me the fin. Parachute patterns work much better and this one has been very productive over many years for both myself and hundreds of my fly fishing clients.

 

This fly pattern is excerpted from Fly Fishing Montana's Missouri River.