Fly Tying Group: At the Vise
Hackle Top Hopper
Al and Gretchen Beatty

(Originally Published in the Flyfisher Magazine)

For us fly pattern inspiration comes from many different directions – magazine articles, new materials, books, readers of this publication, etc. The list is almost endless. In the case of the Top-Hop (our nickname for this fly) the driving force behind it was tying techniques shared with us by two friends – Jeff Smith (Boise Valley Fly Fisherman club president) and Ned Long (long time Federation Demonstration Tier and Buz Buszek Award Recipient who is now deceased).

More than ten years ago Ned shared his “fold over” method for applying a body hackle and we borrowed his idea to use on our hopper. The second part of the Top-Hop comes from a wing case on a nymph Jeff Smith showed us at a club meeting last winter. He made it by coating a black-laced Whiting hen cape feather with Aqua Flex (a water based flexible cement) then stripped it through his fingers to produce a narrow, white wing case with black edges. We thought it was beautiful and started using that design on some of our nymphs as well. It was only a matter of time for Jeff’s idea to find it’s way to some of our dry flies including some laced wing Adams we tested early this spring (an opportunity for a future column). With their success came ideas for more laced wing designs including the application you see here today on the Top-Hop.

A new fly was born! Or was it? We don’t think so. Like a lot flies it is nothing more than an assembly of other people’s ideas. We certainly hope those of you reviewing this piece find some inspiration and go forth to produce flies new to you. We think it is part of the fun and joy of membership in the Federation of Fly Fishers. We never ask, “What can the Federation do for me?” We already know the valuable knowledge we’ve learned over the years from the many Federators we know like Ned and Jeff.

Material List

Hook: Size 4 to 14, 3X long
Thread: Gray
 Body: Gray foam strip
Hackle: Grizzly
Hackle support: Stretch floss
Under wing: Elk hair
Over wing/head: Golden olive black-laced Whiting hen feather
Wing coating: Aqua Flex or equivalent
Head: Elk hair, bullet style
Legs: Rubber leg material, orange/black

Step 1: Select a black edged golden olive hen feather (or color of choice) from a Whiting Laced cape. Coat it with Aqua Flex, strip it through your thumb and forefinger then set it aside to dry. We suggest preparing several of these feathers the night before you are going to tie the flies. Place the hook in the vise and apply several tight thread turns directly behind the hook eye. Tie on one of the prepared feathers with the tip pointing forward of the hook eye. Adjust the length of the feather so it is slightly longer than the complete hook. Trim off the waste end. Note: The amount of pressure applied while stripping the feather through the thumb and forefinger can really change the width and color of the finished product. We suggest you adjust the pressure based on your particular need.

Step 2: Select a clump of elk hair large enough to form half of the bullet head. Clean out the under fur and even the tips in a hair stacker. Tie them to the under side of the hook with the tips pointing forward. Their length should be equal to three-fourths of the hook shank. Repeat the process on top of the hook then trim any waste ends remaining from either application. Bind down any loose ends leaving the thread hanging near the one-third position on the shank.

Step 3: Select a six-inch length of stretch floss and bind it to the rest of the hook shank. Prepare a grizzly hackle feather and tie it to the end of the shank. Anchor the floss (under tension) in a gallows tool then wind the hackle up the floss and back to the hook. Tie it off and trim any waste end. Pull the assembly back into a material keeper for future reference.

Step 4: Cut a strip of gray foam so it is about as wide as one-half of the distance of the hook gape. Trim a point in one end and tie it to the end of the shank. Advance the thread to the one-third position then wrap the foam forward to meet it. Tie off the foam and trim the waste end from the hook. Remove the floss/hackle assembly from the material keeper, fold it over the body, and anchor it with the tying thread. Trim the waste end.

Step 5: Select, clean, and stack a clump of elk hair. Tie it to the hook as a Trude style under wing then trim the waste ends. Fold the bullet head hair back and anchor it at the one-third point. Notice the feather came along for the ride and formed the over wing in the process.

Step 6: Tie on the rubber legs and trim them to length. Construct a whip-finish, clip the thread from the hook, and apply a coating of Aqua Head to complete the fly.