All my angling life I'd heard that grasshopper imitations catch big trout. And over the years I've become proficient at the standard upstream, dead-drift hopper presentation. For many of us, it's the best fishing opportunity of the year for above-average trout.
Yet in Montana there are several individuals with little or no respect for fly-fishing convention. They eagerly flaunt the conventional methods of fishing the venerable hopper.
Among them is talented trout sculptor Powell Swanser. He is the inventor of the little-known-but-somewhat-famous Outlaw Hopper. He also catches as many trout over 24 inches as anyone around. His creation is a white-and-gray and red-in-spots extension of the basic grasshopper pattern. (Tying instructions are included at the end of this article.)
It's an ugly fly...and a very effective one. Gary LaFontaine says that the pattern is one of the most deadly stimulator patterns he has used for big fish. High praise indeed.
Swanser and LaFontaine are good friends and both spend much of their angling lives fishing Montana's Upper Clark Fork. LaFontaine has done much to popularize the concept of skip casting grasshopper patterns tight to banks to help draw the attention of big trout through the commotion created on the water's surface. Swanser has taken this approach a few notches further.
In addition to its unique appearance, the secret to the Outlaw's success is in how it's presented.
"Presentation...ah yes. I've had my share of ridicule," says Swanser. "The presentation techniques I've worked up for this pattern are what I call 'dirty dancing.' And this is no off-the-wall method, but rather a bona fide system that makes this fly produce."
Swanser describes the method he uses for typical late-summer hopper action along deep side channels. Using a seven-weight weight-forward line with a six-foot leader, including 20 inches of terminal tippet tapering to 3X or 4X, he bypasses the tail of the run and concentrates close to the belly of the pool.
The first sidearm cast sets the bug down softly under the far bank with a natural drift. The second cast hits slightly harder and every two seconds the Outlaw gets a slight twitch. On the third cast he skips the hopper off the water's surface, every three seconds pulling it underwater with a strip of a foot or two. If the pattern moves too far out of the feeding lane or foam line, Swanser throws a quick line loop, kicking the hopper back into place.
"If the big brown hasn't nailed it by now, I'm out of there! I back out low and careful, slip around and move to the head of the run. I'm down on one knee, stripping out the line I need plus 10 feet. Then I flip the bug back into the foam line and let the current take the bug downstream."
When the pattern has reached the end of the drift and is hanging in the current, Swanser holds it still for three seconds before initiating a slow, straight, deliberate retrieve upstream through the foam line. The second cast is allowed to drift several feet farther downstream and then is retrieved in big, sweeping S curves.
"The third cast is the one that has turned more than one nonbeliever into a disciple,'" says Swanser. "The fly hits the hole two feet down from the foam and it doesn't stop bouncing for 60 seconds. I have had 25-inch German browns do a complete cartwheel in the air trying to get their clammy little hands on the Outlaw."
If this fails to draw a response from the trout, he hangs a split-shot on the tippet knot and double hauls to the tail of the pool, snaps the rod tip sideways to break the surface tension, and brings the hopper back with rapid 18-inch retrieves. The deer hair and soft hackle lay back against the side of the body during this retrieve and the fly makes a complete revolution every three or four strips, creating a good deal of turbulence that imitates a wounded minnow--prime big-trout pickings.
"One more cast like this should be enough to either incite a strike or drive the inhabitants to the next river," laughs Swanser. "If nothing has happened and I'm convinced there's a world record in the hole, I clip off the deer hair and pull out all the tail hair except for two on each side. I leave the split-shot in place and toss a high one at the head of the run, throwing a mend in the air. Then I bounce the new stonefly nymph down the trench right past the big brown's nose. Many times this is what that old, spoiled trout has been waiting for."
All of this sounds like a lengthy and complicated procedure, but with some practice the routine falls quickly into place. The technique is for big trout with the advantages of imitating not only a grasshopper but a minnow and an egg-laying stonefly and its nymphal form.
The Outlaw also approximates some large October caddis as well as the salmon flies that inhabit the river just below Swanser's home.
"The Outlaw Hopper is the John Deere tractor of the fly world," adds Swanser. "It may not be the prettiest thing in the hayfield, but you'll never be let down when it's time to harvest the hay. More than once I've tossed the Outlaw into the middle of a PMD hatch with 10 village idiots gobbling frantically--locked tight to size 16 flies--only to have a 24-inch granddaddy try to slam my big bug into the sunset."
While Swanser's method has proved itself many times over for me, most recently on a small east-slope stream where I caught a number of browns over 20 inches, there are certain other things to look for when hopper fishing.
Just because hundreds (or even thousands) of grasshoppers suddenly burst forth alongside a choice trout stream one day does not mean that the fish will immediately begin feeding on them, casting all caution to the prevailing breeze. Normally, several days of the new food item crashing into the water and drifting overhead in noticeable numbers are needed to cause trout, especially big ones, to shift from whatever happened to be the dominant food source prior to the hopper breakout.
This is true of any change in diet. Trout are opportunistic by nature, but they are also extremely efficient feeding machines. To abandon a source of protein that is readily available in favor of one that is making its first appearance on a given stream is not calorically efficient behavior. The new bug may be a transitory phenomenon of little dietary significance. Thousands of years of evolution have established these behavior patterns.
When hoppers make their initial appearance although big trout may not be feeding on them regularly, a patient angler who knows where specific large trout are holding can sometimes entice the fish to take by creating a false hatch.
By drifting a grasshopper continually over a run where a trout is stationed, he can create the illusion of large numbers of hoppers. Eventually, if the casting is done cautiously so as not to spook the fish, the trout will rise and take the repetitious offering.
This requires patience and at best will advance the hopper feeding a few days--time probably better spent searching out streamside locations that are experiencing bumper crops of the erratic little terrestrial creatures.
All the same, once fish do key into the availability of hoppers, the fishing can be fabulous, to put it mildly. Ask any Western angler to list his best days on the water and one of them will surely be when grasshoppers were flying everywhere and huge trout were gulping them down. This is the time of year an angler can take trophy trout, sometimes in staggering numbers.
A certain section of river that was prime hopper water last year may be a dead issue this year. Last year's abundance of insects, in addition to creating good fishing, may also have devastated the insect's food source. Conversely, a field and adjacent stretch of stream that provided poor hopper fishing the year before may be awash in the insects this season. Only a little pre-game research will reveal where you should concentrate your efforts.
Places that deserve a high priority are fields of hay, wheat, alfalfa, and wild grasses, as well as grassy meadows and other summertime plantings next to streams. Insect magnets like these are top-notch locations, especially if a farmer's harvesting coincides with the emergence of the hoppers or crickets.
Because of the free-flying nature of grasshoppers you might think that trout are found throughout a river when hoppers are active, but this is not necessarily the case. Bigger fish are reluctant to leave their prime holding areas and expose themselves out in the open to attacks from predators. When casting, work the water running next to banks or along any other available cover such as midstream boulders or submerged logs.
Hoppers tend to increase in average size as the season progresses. When in doubt about size, especially if matching the originals proves unsuccessful, try a larger size before going to something smaller.
Finally, despite the natural buoyancy of grasshoppers, a fly with split-shot above the hook that sinks it to the bottom always seems to turn a fish or two--sometimes these are the largest of the day. This tactic works because a few insects invariably become waterlogged or trapped in a down-swirling current and wind up bouncing along the rocks and gravel. Trout, already keyed to the hoppers, are unable to resist a wholesome meal delivered to their doorsteps. It is also quite possible that these drowned insects imitate small, mangled minnows or large nymphs. Whatever the reason, they take fish.
Hopper season normally lasts until the first hard, killing frost of autumn. Even after that time, a resurgence of summerlike weather may trigger another "hatch," and prolong the fishing.
If for no other reason than the sake of variety, I suggest tying a couple Outlaw Hoppers and trying out Powell's unique approach on some notable grasshopper water in your area. Don't be afraid to become a practicing heretic.
Outlaw Hopper Tying Instructions
When I asked Powell Swanser if the Outlaw Hopper is difficult to tie, he replied, "You have got to be dumber than the neighbor's dog if you can't set the vise on fire."
Copyright (c) 1996 John Holt. All rights reserved.
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