Using grasshopper imitation for flyfishing in hot windy
days.
Words and Photos: Rodrigo Sandoval
In spanish: grasshoppers = saltamontes.
For several years, trout's opportunist attitude has been highly commented,
a fact already proved by numerous researches. I strongly believe that
trout eat all kinds of insects that get, one way or another, in the water. Even
on several occasions I've seen them eat a little leaf, just because it fell on
the water close to their position. But for a long time I kept the firm idea of
imitating the most typical natural insects that live in water, identified by
those who in fact develop and live in the aquatic environment, such as mayflies,
caddisflies, stoneflies, and so on.
The day had come in which I would suffer from a lot of hot weather in a river
in an austral road. The trout action,
which I experienced that morning in a clear stream, completely disappeared.
Nothing happened for a long while. At this time of the year, mid January, heat
had increased considerably at mid day and general temperature was reflected in
grass bank, which had turned into a gold colour. Typical situation that
correspond to the hottest period of the summer in the south hemisphere.
As I walked by the riverbank, I could see lots of grasshoppers coming out of
the brushes with my walking. Wasn't surprising for me at all. Some time later
some wind started to blow, typical of Patagonia. Suddenly I noticed that at
least one of the grasshoppers or more we dragged out. There was a big one, in
particular, that fell in the water on a pool nearby my position. Not even 3
seconds went by till it disappeared into a big splash. Minutes later, the same
scene took place, but in this occasion I was able to see a powerful brown trout
sank just after the surface's turbulence.
Maybe because of plain instinct or divine inspiration, I came back running to the
tent and grabbed a Muddler Minnow on repair, that had been slaughtered by a big
brown last night, and without hesitating I fixed it
with lateral paws made out of feather fiber. Fortunately it wasn't a weighted
pattern. Almost hysterical I ran back the 50 meters that kept me far from that pool.
I rigged my 4 weight rod with a floating line and a 13 feet leader with a 5X tippet.
I cast, presented, let it drift, waited. Nothing happened. I walked ahead to the next bend and
again. Nothing happened. Little time went by and nothing. Suddenly another
dominant squall went by, throwing more weeds in the air and a grasshopper to the
shore. His fall sounded spectacular for the size of this insect. I had a second
thought about it and cast again with my improvised imitation. This time I tried,
deliberately that the fly would strike in the water violently instead of falling
gently. On the first take I had the impression that some eyes followed my line's
rod, maybe it was only autosuggestion. On the second shoot, trout's
determination finally bloomed and made me experience a strike that almost cut my
5X. The fight was a tuff one, and I wasn't able to see the brown for almost two
minutes. When it started to get tired, I could appreciate it was one of the
rulers in its area. It was a beautiful Salmo trutta weighting about 4 pounds. Even
with the imitation stuck to its lower jaw, I realized about the great concept
behind this fishing scene.
When I came back home, some days later, I reviewed some previous editions of
a flyfishing magazine. I found an article where the concept I had experienced vividly at
the river was fully explained. Obviously, if I should have remembered that
information, I wouldn't have the surprise I had and my presentation would have
considered those kind of patterns from the very beginning. At least climate
conditions that day indicated this.
Some time after, I lived the same situation in a river on Yellowstone Park,
in Wyoming, USA. The day was like the previous one, very hot. The watercourse,
the Slough Creek crosses several box canyons, lying on their slope on open
prairies. This gives a strong chance of blowing strong winds. The day before
that it was equally hot and my travel friend were able to hook up their own
cutthroat using the grasshopper pattern. I personally achieved success the next
day, and the approach was the same that I tried on that river in the austral
road of Chile: a grasshopper pattern presented by the shore.
Things are not that different on the oriental side of the Andes Range. On
many of the rivers in which I had the chance to go fishing, from Junín to the
Andes, to Esquel, in some of the cases it is stuffed of these insects in hot
weather. Wind, always present almost at any place, goes his way depositing
regularly some grasshoppers and crickets on the water. That's why, without
minding where I go, my grasshopper patterns are kept in some case.
As time went by, I widened my classic patterns with some of the most adorned
and others easier to use. The goal has always been the same: imitating natural
insects that fall on the river. The technique is simple, and the results can be
pretty awesome.
The Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers, belonging to the Orthoptera order, aren't aquatic insects,
but are identified as "terrestrial". Even though they are less
abundant than other terrestrial insects that also are part of the diet of trout,
their size and importance of their fall in the water make them a very noticeable
goal, even the bigger trout that usually aren't moved by other insects.
The variety of species within this order makes pretty irrelevant the moment
of fishing with patterns of these insects on uniform conditions. Lots of these
species change its colour - even though it's the least important fact to trout -
according to the environment. Their body structure is almost the same and only
its size varies between juvenile species and members of different species.
The perfect moment to go fishing with grasshoppers
When is it convenient to use these imitations? Grasshoppers are much more
abundant on dry and hot season. In the south cone of America it usually happens
on mid December or February. There can be other productive moments throughout
the year, especially in spring. A very important factor in this decision, is to
choose a very warm day and ideally with wind's presence which is noticed by
fish. This wind is the one that makes insects leave firm land to be deposited
dangerously on the surface of the water nearby. The best time is when the
greatest activity by these terrestrial insects is taking place. Close to midday.
In some particular cases, a grasshopper might serve as a pattern of
exploration, even though climate conditions aren't the most appropriate for the
presence of these insects. One of the advantages a grasshopper has for this
task, is that is very visible on the surface, which makes it easier its
observation to detecting bites and also observing currents on a particular area.
You just need to cast the imitation up river and watch it drift downstream.
Useful "saltamontes" patterns
Which one is the best imitation and how can it be tied up? There isn't any
special pattern to imitate these insects. Many flies are in fact useful and
what distinguish them is the floating capability.
A big body - using a 6 to 10 hook size. A special
characteristic is providing a big head some long legs on the backside, detached
in both sides. Patterns should float very well. The floating condition of deer
hair makes the material most popular for this patterns. The dubbing or material
fold must be very "hairy", to increase its capacity of floating and
give a more substantial profile.
There are several patterns, for grasshoppers and their relatives, the
crickets. Letort Hopper, or Dave's Hopper and Whitlock Hopper are within
favorites in North America. You can usually find them in distributor's
catalogues and local specialized shops.
In addition to the patterns I mentioned before, I grown fond for two
particular patterns, one of them, very simple and fast to tight up. The
Parachute Hooper is made in an equivalent way as any other fly pattern, be it
this way, with the particular thing of adding on the backside some claws made of
feather stick. The usual size is between 4 and 10. Me second pattern, the
Austral Grasshopper, being a little more complex to tight up, because all of the
process associated to the management of the deer's hair, has the advantage of
being highly capable of floating and lasting. I have some that keep a couple of
dozen captures in the résumé and maintain themselves as out of the vise.
Whitlock Hopper
| Hook |
Standard dry fly #6 to #12 |
| Thread |
Black, brown or olive 6/0 |
| Body |
Light colour cover. In some cases the body is extended in an abdomen
beyond the hook's curve-using deer hair. |
| Legs |
Many tiers cut a feather's fibers to make the figure of the
grasshopper's legs.
|
| Wing |
Stiff turkey quill
attached in a curved way over the abdomen. |
| Back |
A piece of colourful chenille or yarn is added for
visibility, but
it's not an element that might affect the aesthetics of the pattern from fish's
point of view. |
| Antennae |
Two rigid feather fibers extensive to their own body's length. |
A quite realistic pattern and a very beautiful one too. It's tied up technique
requires certain ability to tight up, but the fact of constructing the hooks
somehow big makes the application of materials less hard. Its ornaments make it
easier to look at, even on rough waters. Its simulation is almost identical to a
real grasshopper making it very easy its use in sectors where the water is
calmed, always near the shore.
|
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Dave's Hopper
| Hook |
Standard dry fly #6 to #12 |
| Thread |
Black, brown or olive 6/0 |
| Body |
Light colored dubbing. |
| Head and wings |
Deer's hair cut in a rounded or in the shape of a cube. The wings correspond
to the same hairs that were left without cutting and face backwards. Deer's hair
head would be the element that is required for the floating feature of the
pattern, which's why its advisable to place some floating substance on the
abdomen to make the floating stable.
|
| Wing |
|
| Back |
|
| Antennae |
|
Another realistic pattern when put on the water: ideal for slow moving
waters. Its construction is quite simple and only takes some practice to
manage the trimming of the deer hair.
|
 |
Saltamontes Austral
| Hook |
Standard dry fly #6 to #12 |
| Thread |
Black, brown or olive 6/0 |
| Body |
Light colored and
abundant dubbing. Paxton dubbing is a good option. |
| Legs |
Thick quill fibers. A
knot (before attaching to the fly) in the middle results in the
bending of the natural insect's leg. |
| Wing and head |
The head is made up with
deer hair cut in a rounded shape. The wings must have a reasonable length
(not longer than the body) covering mainly the upper and
lateral part of the fly. |
Even though I consider this as my own creation, the "saltamontes
austral" is the conjunction of some grasshopper patterns that exist nowadays. Basically
it has a muddler minnow head style leaving plenty of fibers facing backwards, covering the
first half of the body. A dubbed body is added and some
turkey fiber legs. It's quite fast and simple to tie, if you
dominate the technique of handling the deer hair.
|
 |
Parachute Hopper
| Hook |
Standard dry fly #6 to #12 |
| Thread |
Black, brown or olive 6/0 |
| Body |
|
| Legs |
|
| Wing |
|
| Back |
|
| Antennae |
|
An very recognizable pattern. It doesn't require special skills or exotic
materials. In fact, there are numerous patterns with the "parachute"
surname. The only difference between this hopper and other parachute patterns is
the size and the legs and shape of the body.
|
 |
Dave's Hopper
Legs:
Head and
wings:
Tail:
Case:
Feather stick.
Some little fibers made out of calves' tail, died in a colourful way.
Stiff turkey feather. In many cases, the colour you choose is not that
important, but ideally could work a brown or gray. Varnishing is recommended to
increase its capacity of being used.
Materials:
Parachute Hopper
Hook:
Thread:
Body:
Legs:
Wings:
Case:
Standard dry fly #6 to #12
Black or toasted, 6/0
Light colour cover, pretty abundant. Paxton dubbing might be a good option.
Feather thick stick, like quill turkey, tightens up to form the plague.
Varnishing the feather is highly recommended before making the legs.
A grizzly feather of good size to roll up around a calf's post
of tail's fiber on white colour.
Stiff turkey feather.
The fly's presentation
How do I cast and work on my imitations? The aim is to imitating the
behaviour of the natural ones. These insects are not aquatic, that's why they
aren't usually identified with a "water behaviour" in particular. When
they are found in the water, it's unique and exclusively because they fell by
accident. So there are two factors to consider: the position on the watercourse
where the fly places itself and how does it stand and manages this imitation.
First, those riverbanks with little vegetation are the best examples. The
idea is placing an imitation from the very beginning on a quiet part of the
flow, or even medium fast. The imitation mustn't fall from less than 2 meters
near the shore that shows pasture or weeds, sometimes even a few centimeters
from the water. Derive must happen in the same with any dry fly: without
dragging the pattern, controlling the management of the loose line, for it not
to become excessively dragged with the current.
In second place, when you shoot with the fly you must try to splash some
water along with the artificial one, simulating in this way a real fall
grasshopper fall into the water. This doesn't only call the fish attention on
the worked path, but al least in many cases a sudden push that provokes a kind
of jump on the water might call the fish's attention and making it respond to
the floating pattern.
During the days when the wind feels expressive, those days are the best to
try a grasshopper at the end of the leader, picking up the line and shooting
again makes it hard to achieve. As time goes by I've been able to manage the top
of the fishing rod in order to make it keep up as much line's surface at it can
for it to be raised by the wind, without me making almost any effort. With a
little bit of patience and precision, I start to make the top of the fishing rod
go down in order to deposit the pattern upwards, always in a promising place.
Usually the strike doesn't delay more than a few seconds to arrive, which
enhances the expectation around all the experience.
The use of the grasshopper is an excellent choice when imitations of aquatic
insects don't provide any results. Sometimes it is possible to tempt a trout
among lots of other, which is useful to identify if fish are active or not.
Good fishing!
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