Written by Mike Gentry.

Word has it (if one believes the Oregonian) that this year will yield a bumper crop of the voracious crop chewers, especially east of the mountains, and requests are pouring in (one so far) for a recipe for a FOTM feature of this trout morsel.  There are about a million patterns, from the precise (ala Rembrandt) to the abstract (ala Salvador Dali).  This article presents a simple-to-tie foam body study that is tried and true in the rivers in Montana where hoppers are the food of choice in August, and should produce here as well.

Hook: Tiemco 5263BL or any heavy wire 3x hook
Thread:  Tan 8/0
Body: Tan foam
Legs: White or tan rubber legs
Post: Yellow foam
Hackle: Ginger or brown

1. Cut a foam body in the silhouette of the hopper.  The body can be sized to the length of the prevalent hopper; I generally have them from one inch to on and one half inches.

2. Wind the thread back and forth from the hook eye to the bend several times to "coat" the hook shank with thread, finishing so that the thread is where the "waist" of the hopper foam would be if the front of the head sticks out perhaps 1/8 inch in front of the eye.

3.  Place the foam body on top of the hook so that the silhouette is flat to the water, and bind the foam body onto the hook with 14-15 turns of thread with the width of the thread binding about 1/8 inch.

4.  Cut a small (1/8 inch wide) length of yellow foam and tie one end in on top of they "waist" area so that they post is sticking up from the waist.  I usually make the post about an inch long initially so I can hold the top when parachute-winding the hackle, then cut off the excess post when finished.

5. Make legs by taking three strands of rubber leg material and tying them into a knot at the "knee joint".  Then take a brown waterproof pen and put some hashmark mottlings onto the legs.

6. Tie each leg onto the side of the waist with four or five turns of thread, both in front of and in back of the post.  Ideally the "front legs" will stick forward and somewhat out or upward, and the "back legs" will stick out backward or somewhat flayed out, the "knee" will be a little short of the back end of the body.  Once they are tied in solidly, cut off two of the three strands of the lower legs and the front legs, leaving only a single strand on each.

7. Tie in a good dry fly hackle on top of the body at the base of the post and parachute wrap four or fly turns at the base of the post, tying off and trimming the remaining hackle tip.

I then turn the fly over and put either cement or fleximent (my preference) on the thread on the underside of the "waist" and the hook thread, to help keep the hopper body from rotating on the hook in use.  As color varies in the naturals, different color foam and rubber leg material can be used for variation.  I have found this to be just about the most favorite of the dozen or so patterns I've used in hopper waters.  The foam body obviously gives great floatability and the simple pattern is very durable as well.  And the fish like!  A presentation as close to overhanging banks or bushes, with an indelicate "splat" landing, often produces a serious take.