Juan Ramirez
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Juan
What size cutter do you use, they come in three sizes
Carlp
Carl,
I use the large for #6 & 8 hooks and medium for #10-12 hooks. I use the small one and stretch out the foam to make it thinner on the minis.
The fly I tied was a size 8.
Juan
:DAwesome 😀
Kick ass perfect tutorial Juan, thanks.
And you did all that with a Canon Powershot A720! Wonderful pictures from a point-and-shoot.
Great! I don’t even know what the hell I am doing with the photos. I just try to mess with the settings a bit and something about the f stop and something else. Hell, I don’t know. Glad it made the cut though. 😮
Original Hopper Juan
Hook: 2XL such as TMC 5262 or MFC 7026 size 6-10
Thread: UTC 140 denier to match foam
Foam: 2mm foam, cut to shape with chernobyl taper cutter.
Glue: Krazy glue with brush
Underwing: MFC wing material, brown, cut with wing cutter.
Wing: Nature’s Spirit early season cow elk
Flash: Krystal flash, pearl or U.V. pearl
Legs; Med. rubber legs, color to match body
High-Vis: MFC Gator Hair
Start by making a layer of thread on the hook. Measure the hook gap and pierce through the bottom piece of foam.
Position bottom piece of foam and make three wraps to secure. Place a small dab of crazy glue on to hold to hook shank.
Lay top piece of foam in position. Make three wraps to secure. The glue will help hold it together.
Make thread wraps to next segment point and tie down bottom piece of foam. Place a small amount of glue to hook shank and foam.
Continue to make segments using just a dab of glue on each segment. At this segment will be all your hair and additional wraps to finish the fly so don’t overdue it here. Only make enough wraps to secure the foam. The glue will help hold it together.
Make last segment and leave a little room to make a cut and to be able to cover foam with thread.
It is very important that you have mirco tip scissors to make a clean, close cut. You will end up with some little “nubs” that you will have to trim and then cover with thread warps to make a clean head.
At this point, I have covered the “nubs” under thread wraps. Notice my frayed thread? This is the only disadvantage of using UTC thread. It important to use UTC 140 though.
Tim,
Thanks, and I agree with you about liking it better than Charlie’s. Greg Garcia said the same thing. That makes me feel good. I worked a long time on this pattern and one day, it just clicked. I wanted a good, clean, durable foam fly that could hold up a small dog, catch fish and was hi-vis for the older generation. Oh, yea, I wanted to be able to call it my own. I haven’t seen anything out there like this yet. If I remember, I will post a picture of the original Hopper Juan when I get a chance. Look for some of my flies in the future at Herman’s site. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. http://www.flytyingclips.com/
Nice bugs, Juan.
I would be interested to know how you punched out the foam and got such round corners and sides. What do you personally fish for when using these?D.
Dusty,
I tie a regular size hopper in size 6-10 that I call the Hopper Juan. This was just something I tied while wondering how I could downsize the current version and have a still usable pattern with out crowding the hook gap. I didn’t use any special cutters on this foam as I do with the bigger version. They are simply foam strips cut about 1/4″ wide. I did stretch the foam to thin it and make it thinner over all. The round corners and sides just come as you tie this fly. That’s what I love about the look of this fly. It is clean, without much thread showing. You have to use the correct sized foam and make sure it’s not too wide. It’s really a pretty easy fly to tie. I used MFC’s widow web for the wing. I found all of the material lying around on my desk and put it together. I haven’t fished this pattern yet, but I will. I have fished the bigger Hopper Juan for a few years now and I am pleased with its performance. There is no doubt that this will be a fun bug on the smaller creeks and smaller fish here in the Rockies as well as out East. Just think, a 2 or 3 wt, with a box of these and some beadheads!!!
Juan
Rob,
I would definately have some mercury midges both in white/cream copper rib and in black with a silver rib for alll the rivers you will be on. Don’t forget the egg patterns either. The local favorites are otter’s eggs. Good combos are 4 mm eggs followed by a #20-26 larva or mercury midge. Oh yea, RS2s are a must!!!
In some cases, you might need to go down to 26-28 size midges. These fish see a lot of flies everyday, so yes, the smallest detail may make the difference and these fish do notice. If you are fishing #22s and fish are seeing #26s, chances are you won’t be hooking up. Trust me, I have seen it out here. Remember though, it all goes back to presentain and drift. If you can do that correctly, you chances do go up, even with a huge # 20 on the line. 😉
Hope this helps.
Juan
P.S.–The fly is called a Yong Special, otherwise know as a UFO on the San Juan.
Thanks guys.
What I am looking at is having a 6 wt. sinking line that I would use on a normal basis with a 6wt rod. I would then have the option of using it on my 8wt rod without having to buy a new reel/spool or line for the 8 wt sinking line. I do not know how much I would use it so I don’t really want to invest in a new reel. The reel I am looking at is a Nautilus FW7 and use it as a full time 6 wt reel, but purchase a FW 7 PLUS spool for my 8wt floating line using the same reel. Clear as mudd? Thanks.Landon Mayer
I am tying at “The Fly Fishing Show” in Denver this week and I just spoke to Landon. They came up with a great clinic. It’s called the “Best of the West”, or something like that, but you sign up for a muliti-day seminer and it includes instruction with John Barr, Clay Roberts, Landon Mayer and Charlie Craven along with one other person. That’s a heck of a line up, so you can fish with a couple greats during that time frame.
Shane, I also spoke to Dave Whitlock and John Geirach today. Tomorrow, I can ask them to give you a call and set that up! 😉
Juan
I guide some for an Orvis shop (which has a demo of this rod) and I am on the Orvis Proguide program , and I still would choke at the price of two of these rods.
JWThen there shouln’t be too much complaining about the price, being on the Pro guide program!!!! I know what the price is for these rods and it really isn’t that bad. Just be happy that you don’t have to pay retail.
Just save some money from some guide trips and re-invest it with the rods.I think you will really like this Helios rod, as it is way lighter than the T3, espically when yoiu get into the longer lengths.
Juan 🙂
It is also a Vladi worm, condom worm, or one of many other names. The Poles, Czechs and other East Euros have been using them for years as anchors on the Czech nymph rigs. Same shape hooks, same materials, etc.
Thanks for the info. Looked up a couple of recipes … Wonder if I can find some blue condoms 😮
Why, yes, yes you can find them in blue.
Eric’s fly rod is a bit dated. I tried to talk him into taking my son’s TFO 486-4 Pro but he’s partial to his old Berkley 2 pc. When he was having trouble casting into the wind, I let him cast my modestly priced Scott A2 and he loved it. I think he’s going to try and find one of these on sale since the are being replaced with the A3.[/quote]
Brian,
Have him call Mark Stewart at Dos Amigos Anglers In Eagle Nest, NM.
505-377-6226, no web site.He is a small fly shop that carries Scott and he has some A2s he needs to move. Always nice to help out the little guys. 😉
John
