The hopper myth?

"Larry" wrote...


When and where have you experienced good fishing to hopper patterns and
thought that 'hopper' was a key to the fish? I'm tempted to think such
situations are actually far more rare than the stories about them in the
magazines.


In my limited, Mid-west experience, I've found that tossing a hopper right
up to the bank can be very productive.

The Black Earth in Wolfgang's Curdistan has a very weedy shoreline that
teems with hoppers once the heat gets going. On a windy day, the things are
all over the water, and some rises can be seen. I'm no expert on this
water -- fished it mebbe a dozen times, but from what I've seen, heat +
hoppers = fish. IIRC, I used a Madam CDC (Chuck Vance's DDFS fly in 2005)
and Big Dale's Klod Hopper with pretty good results.

In Michigan, the PM near Claybanks (by the stairs) has a very high
cliff-like shoreline. It's also very weedy. Lots of tall grasses and the
like. The banks have been reinforced with logs in places to help with
erosion control. In mid-summer, tossing a hopper (Dave's is the pattern of
choice there, but I've gotten fish on a Madam X, too) to the log at the base
of one of the cliffs can make for a fun afternoon. Again, no expert here,
just some limited experience.

Dan
.....keywords: "limited experience"