The parachute hopper was developed in Fresno, California, by Ed Schroeder in the 1970s. Adding a wing post of white calf tail to a traditional hopper pattern made the fly more visible and buoyant on the water. It should be fished aggressively, splashing it down near the target fish, then twitching it to imitate a grasshopper working toward the shoreline. It can also be used as an indicator by dropping a nymph fly below it.
Instructions
1. Place the hook in the vise and attach the thread. Wind the thread back to the bend of the hook, and then up to about three eye lengths from the hook eye.
2. Cut and stack a clump of calf hair. Grip the clump so that about half of the hook's shaft length extends forward over the eye. Tie in the clump, starting about three eye lengths from the eye with a tight band extending back about another three eye lengths. Then wrap the thread forward to the starting point. Bend the hair tips up and wrap the thread tightly around the clump above the hook shaft to form the parachute. Wrap upward on the clump about 10 turns, then back down and secure the thread around the hook shank. Wrap back toward the bend around the butt ends of the hair clump to form a taper, then trim off the excess butt ends.
3. Tie in a piece of antron yarn and antron ribbing, wrapping the thread back to the hook bend. The ribbing extends back over the bend. Wrap the thread back up to the wing post, then wrap the yarn forward to form the body, ending at the wing post. Tie in the body yarn and trim the excess. Then wrap the antron ribbing forward to form body segments. Tie off at the wing post but do not trim at this point.
4. Tie in a pair of mottled turkey feather sections at the base of the wing post extending back towards the bend to form wings along each side of the body. Then take two pieces of pheasant tail fibers and tie a knot in each one to form a leg joint. Tie these legs onto each side of the wing post, extending backwards just above the wings to imitate the grasshopper's legs.
5. Tie a piece of grizzly hackle behind the wing post. Do not wind the hackle yet. First, wind the antron ribbing (left after Step 3) around the wing post and forward to form a thorax. Tie off the ribbing in front of the wing post. Then wrap the hackle around the wing post five to six times, ending in front of the wing post. Wrap the antron ribbing around the hackle end and forward to the hook eye, then tie off and trim the ribbing and hackle.
6. Form a head behind the hook eye with thread, then tie off with a whip finish and clip. Place a drop of head cement on the head, and another on the base of the wing post to complete the fly.
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