I've been seeing a bunch of crickets around lately, and at the spot I was heading to this morning the fish have been consistently hitting an FEB hopper. So I decided to tie some FEB hoppers in a size 12 and all black to "match the hatch", along with some size 8's in yellow and brown.
Took a newbie out this morning to try and teach her some fly fishing basics and get her on some fish. Rigged her up with one of the bigger yellow ones to start, and I tied on my little size 12 cricket hopper. About three casts, and my fly disappears in a big swirl... It's a 2-pound largemouth! Heck of a way to start the day off!
My friend ended up not catching anything, but she had a blast. I ended up with a half dozen or so, all on the little FEB cricket.
Now I'm off to go tie more of 'em!