Black Hopper Fly: How to tie my best performing pattern

I always have a black hopper fly in my box when fishing on rivers and/or stillwaters because it’s a great, universal fly pattern.

It can be relied upon to catch trout and/or grayling wherever you’re fly fishing and my…

Fly box looks “naked” without a hopper in it.

Generally, a month hasn’t gone by without several trout and grayling being caught on this fly. As such, it holds…

‘Pole Position’ on my list of Top 10 Flies.

So, how to tie my preferred pattern that I use all year round…

How to tie the Black Hopper fly:

Material list:

• Hook: #14 & 12 Kamasan B170
• Thread: 8/0 Uni-black
• Body: Black seals fur substitute
• Rib: Pearl Mylar (1/32″)
• Leg: Knotted black Pheasant tail fibres
• Hackle: Natural hen

7-step tying guide:

I find it works best when the finished fly has a slim profile. Consisting of a sparsely dubbed body and a sparse hackle (2 turns is my preference)…

Step 1. Catch the tying thread onto the hook 2 mm behind the eye. Tie in the pearl Mylar and run the thread in touching turns and stop just past the hook point.

Step 2. Lightly apply dubbing wax to the thread and sparingly dub with the seal’s fur substitute.

Step 3. Wind the dubbed thread toward the eye leaving ca. 3 mm to tie in the legs and hackle. It’s important to make sure you achieve a slim body profile.

Step 4. Wind the pearl Mylar rib over the dubbing in ca. 4 even turn in the opposite direction to the thread. Then tie off and trim the tinsel waste.

Step 5. Knot and tie in a pair of pheasant tail legs (each leg consist of two knotted fibres) so that they extend past the hook bend. Trim the waste ends.

Step 6. Prepare the natural black hen feather and tie it in by its tip

Step 7. Using hackle pliers make 2.5 turns, secure the hackle with the thread, and build a small head. Whip finish and coat with varnish

How to fish the Black Hopper fly:

On rivers, I normally fish the BH wet when prospecting for trout and/or grayling through glides and pools when there is no evidence of fly hatching.

Normally, I will fish the BH on the middle dropper or the point on a team of three wet flies with a March Brown spider and Iron Blue wet fly on the other dropper positions.

Equipment-wise I use a 9ft 5# fly rod loaded with a floating line, and a 9ft 5X copolymer leader, which has been cut back to 5ft from the butt end. At the end of the leader, I tie on two 3ft lengths of 3lb copolymer to form 2 droppers.

In April and May, trout can become transfixed on taking when Hawthorn flies that have been blown onto rivers and lakes. When that happens, fishing a BH on or just under the water surface can produce some excellent sport.

Later in the year, brown trout on the Welsh Dee probably mistake a hopper for a fry when fishing it wet in the margins of pools in the evening.

For more on fishing wet flies check out the following link on the…

Beginners guide to wet fly fishing

On lakes and reservoirs, the BH catches trout in the margins when they are feeding on heather flies or fry and in open water during a buzzer hatch.

Finally, I hope this article on tying the black hopper fly stimulates you to test it out on your local river, lake, or reservoir.