Foamular of Hi Vis Hopper X

High Visibility Hopper X

Nick Ooi call me and ask me if I could tie him 2 dozen of Hopper pattern size 6 and 8.... with a request of make if easier to see when fishing.

Last year, Nick have landed lots of Lenoks using my hopper pattern. This year... I'm going to tie him some hopper with high visibility tag 

I hope he will hook a Taimen with the Hopper X.... :)

Some of the Hopper X ready to go

Nick Ooi and his Lenoks with the Hopper X

Is that a Taimen...?   Well done Nick

The Materials:

Foam

Pheasant tail fiber knob legs

Tape wing

Flashabou

Burn orange Elk hair

Hook and That's it.... 

Oh... Markers and Loon hard head for the eye ( Optional )

This tying instruction is going to be long and detail.... just to make sure everyone see clearly all the steps and technique needed...

Step by step tying instructions:

Prepare the hook and put in the foam about 6-7mm width

Tie down the foam

Tie an extra section behind the hook... this is important, as I have this to create the 'butt' of the hopper.. :)

Tie down the abdomen section as per the picture, notice that I tie it down tight and the end, this will stop the foam from roll around the hook

Now spin your line back but make sure the line goes into the gap of the abdomen section

Now fold the extra section and tie down the upper foam according to the sections, if you worry the foam will roll, you can choose to drop a small amount of super glue before you tie in the upper foam

Make a hole at the foam

Fold the foam over thru the hole and tie down

Make another hole at the foam

Fold the foam over thru the hook eye again, tie the foam to create the mouth part and also to secure the foam

Turn the vise and tie down the foam to create the head 

 I will normally trim the mouth part to imitate the hopper head profile

This is how I like it to be

Now lay the line to the next section

Tie down the foam and trim it

If you as fussy like me, color the hopper body with marker... if you are not, I believe the fish would blame you

Tie in some flashabou

Tie in some Elk hair, you may also use dear hair if you wish

Tie in the knob Pheasant tail legs

Tie down the legs

Split the fiber and use them as the other 2 pair of legs too

Tie down the legs

Tie in the tape wing ( my tape wing is colored magic tape )

Nick.... I tie in the bright yellow foam as the tag for you.... 

Don't tell me you still can't see them..!!!

Whip finish and trim the legs

View from below.... that's what the fish see

View from side

A different angle view.... Nick..! can you see them..? If you still can't see them, get another pair of glasses.... !!!    :p

If you extra fussy... you can put in the antenna and color the hopper

Cheers.... I hope everyone happy and hook some fish with this hopper....

Snakehead ( Bujuk ) on Hi Vis  Hopper landed by Dewa Wes in East Malaysia

Tight lines and good luck

Snakehead Fry imitation fly pattern

 

Snakehead Fry imitation

The fries that I'm trying to imitate

Snakehead, also know in Malaysia as Toman... a predator species that lives in our river and dam. Is a common game fish for many game and lure fishermen.

It's fries is an good imitation for those who plan to fish for the Hampala Barb ( Sebarau ) as we realize Sebarau like to attach Snakehead fries... maybe they are natural enemy in the water...

The Materials:

Streamer hook size 6-8

Dumb bell eye

Finn Raccoon Zonker Yellow and white

Flashabou

Ultra Wing pearl dubbing

Marker - Orange and Black

The step by step tying instruction:

Prepare the hook and tie in the dumb bell eye

Tie in small amount of white Raccoon zonker's fiber

Tie in another same amount of yellow Raccoon zonker's fiber on top

Do a dubbing loop and roll in some Ultra Wing dubbing

Spin the dubbing to create the belly

Tie in some flashabou

Tie in some Yellow Raccoon zonker's fiber, whip finish

Use an Orange maker and highlight the top

Use a black maker to draw the line

Drop some head cement and the fly is ready...

The tying technique is similar of tying a clouser.... and it's very simple.

Now we don't have to worry how to apply different color of materials to create color on the fly, just simply color it with makers...

Cheers

J Hook Furry Cray

J Hook Furry Cray

Inspired by a very talented fly tier, Jon Makim who tie a very interesting shrimp pattern with J hook, sort of tube pattern combine with a J hook, that works very well as a weedless pattern. 

Tube Shrimp tied by Jon Makim

Received some Daiichi sample hooks from Anglers Sport Group, I decided to try out the idea tying a weedless cray fish pattern on the Daiichi 4350 

The result .... nice..!!! hope you all like it...

Materials:

Daiichi J Hook style 4350 size 01

Head and Body - Furry foam

Eye - Black bead mono eye

Pincher - Knob furry foam cut out

Legs - Micro Chenille

Antenna - Pheasant tail fiber, flashabou and Calf body hair

Some dubbing and Dumb bell
Hard wire and 100lbs floro mono

Step by step tying instruction:

Cut a short length of hard wire and join the mono to the wire

 Tie in the furry foam and bead eye

 Tie in the Calf body hair, Pheasant tail fiber then add some flashabou

 Roll in some dubbing, preferably orange or pink color, tie in a pcs of micro chenille

 

 Tie in the pair of knob furry foam pincher

Tie in 4 pairs of micro chenille legs, spin the micro chenille to split the legs

 Tie down the head profile,Spin the rest of the micro chenille cover the mono line

Tie in the dumb bell to the J Hook

Cut the hard wire to the length and tie it down to the hook, drop a small drop of zap a gap to secure the tie

Figure 8 and tie the tail fin... trim the legs and whip finish

Color the Cray fish with marker... the J Hook Furry Cray is complete

View from side

View from bottom