The Search For The Ultimate Small Stream Dry Fly (have we found it?)

As a certifiable small-stream fly fishing fiend, I’m always on the lookout for killer small stream dry flies.

My standard — when nothing is hatching or otherwise happening — is a Parachute Beetle Bug, which is basically a gaudy red Western Adams. It works and ties easy, but I have poked around foam flies a bit, thinking they’d float longer (little fish can drown a proper dry pretty quickly).

So when I stumbled on these bad boys at the Arizona Wanderings site, I was intrigued:

Ultimate Small Stream dry fly?

He calls these #12 flies the Arizona Mini-Hopper, and while I’m not sure about the hopper bit, they do ring my “buggy looking” chimes.

A downwing caddis-style fly with a foam back and rubber legs (which you can simply pull off for a more streamlined appearance), Ben was kind enough to send me a few to test, and the results have been favorable.

They float extremely well — even after being mauled by a steady stream of little fish — and they work, even on the flatter water.

I won’t pretend that small stream trout are the most selective on the planet, but I have plenty of experience with days where one fly handily outfished a couple others.

The Mini-Hopper has — so far — performed as well as anything else, and because it floats so nicely, may become my generic “go-to” fly (the one I fish when nothing obvious is happening on the water).

It doesn’t look hard to tie, and because it seems to fall into a niche where it’s handily imitating everything from a caddis to a terrestrial, you can see why it might find steady employment on the pointy end of a small stream addict’s leader.

Any ideas from the Undergrounders?

See you on a small stream, Tom Chandler.

Posted in Flies, Review and tagged arizona mini-hopper, wandering arizona.

14 Comments

twoshoes June 21, 2011, 4:44 pm Reply

I can attest to those flies effectiveness. ben came up w/ a real winner here.
pretty fortunate to call him a friend. it’s a great fly.

twoshoes(Quote)

Royal Wulff aka Mike June 21, 2011, 9:01 pm Reply

I concur these mini’s rock! Those mini’s fool fish during the spring caddis hatch, work just as well on high country cutthroats. Win-win, Ben better get a fly contract goin at this rate! mike

Royal Wulff aka Mike(Quote)

Ed June 22, 2011, 9:23 am Reply

I’ve been fishing those (or a hopper that looks very, very similiar) for several years. I found it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f66jZOcKRQ

Ed(Quote)

Tom Chandler June 22, 2011, 10:53 am Reply

I dunno — the two patterns are pretty dissimilar. The Clodhopper in the video is a foam-body fly, and this is basically a caddis style dry with a foam head/overwing.

I suspect they fill pretty much exactly the same niche, but the Mini-hopper seems a little trimmer.

Tom Chandler(Quote)

Marty June 22, 2011, 5:51 pm Reply

Interesting I think I’d have to tweak the color a bit for my fish but I’m going to tie a few up…. various colors of parachutes, wullfs and elk hairs make up most of my small water aresenal but you’re 100% those little brookies can render a fly unfloatable pdq

Marty(Quote)

Tom Chandler June 22, 2011, 6:11 pm Reply

Plus, given that our hackle supply is now finding its way into hair salons everywhere, a hackle-less fly that floats nice isn’t a bad thing to have…

Tom Chandler(Quote)

Gord July 1, 2011, 1:12 am Reply

Just tied a bunch with peacock body and black wing and foam used green/black sili legs. I’ll be taking them up into the Rockies in a couple of weeks and I just know they’re going to produce some nice Grayling,whitefish and rainbows.

Gord(Quote)

Tom Chandler July 1, 2011, 9:35 am Reply

Hmmmmmm, peacock… hmmmmm…

Tom Chandler(Quote)

Gord July 2, 2011, 8:42 pm Reply

I’m always messin’ with flies sometimes for the good sometimes…well not so much. What I’ve done to that peacock and black mini hopper was add a black CDC puff under the black deer hair. Looks really good time will tell, week and a half to go.

Gord(Quote)