Carnage Hopper (variation) SBS

[ScottP]

hook - Dai Riki 280 #8
thread - UTC 140 tan
body/head - 2mm foam
underwing - landscape fabric
wing - elk hair
legs - rubber medium tan barred
eyes - foam cylinder
indicator - 2mm foam


Made a few changes to Adam Trina's original, mainly in the construction of the head (found it easier to work with the folded foam as opposed to the chunk of 6mm). The spiral-wrapped body is a pretty interesting design (love the segmentation effect); not really hard to do as long as you coat the needle with something to keep the foam from sticking. Vary the size of the needle (swiped a darning needle from my wife for this fly) and foam thickness based on the size of the bug. I used 2mm because I wanted a chunky bodied-hopper look; 1mm and .5mm razor foam may be better alternatives for smaller hoppers/stoneflies.


Part 1

Insert needle in vise




poke a hole in a strip of foam (hook gap width)




and slide on the needle (you'll want that tag end to hold onto)




didn't have any wax so I used a liberal application of Mucilin to coat the needle




brush Super Glue on about 3" of the foam




grab the tag end and spiral the foam up the needle; try to make the turns uniform in spacing and tension (for a fat body like this, I don't pull too hard)




continue wrapping a few more turns; hold for a sec until the glue sets




then slide the body off the hook; trim tag end




mash the hook barb, insert in vise and wrap thread to hook point

[ScottP]

Part 2

tie on a "binder strip" of foam (helps lock the body onto the hook in the following steps)






position body on hook, coat binder strip with Super Glue




brush a bit more glue on body strip and wrap forward 3 turns




tie off foam and trim






prepare underwing (hook gap width)




measure for length (extend a bit past the butt) apply a bit of glue and tie in




clean, stack and measure a clump of elk hair and tie in

[ScottP]

Part 3

invert fly, take another strip of foam (a bit wider than hook gap) and tie in at base of wing position




flip fly back over, poke a hole in it for hook eye






place a piece of foam cylinder at front of head




fold foam over top and tie down at base of wing




tie in legs




trim excess foam and tie in indicator




whip finish, SHHAN, trim legs, indicator and foam underneath and you're done








Regards,
Scott

[holensum]

Great looking hopper Scott. Looks to me like a good alternative for the Super Glue, CA, would be something like fabric or headliner adhesive. Bonds super well, is water resistant and stays flexible, unlike most CA's that get hard when cured.

[ronnie_mckee]

Scott thanks for posting the tutorial.

[dr korn]

Scott - thats a cool hopper SBS... really like the body. Thanks for putting it up...

[Gigmaster]

Whoa!!! Killer hopper. I gotta tie up a few of these.

[ScottP]

Pookey isn't the only one pretty in pink





On second thought, the orange indicator seems a bit unnecessary.


Regards,
Scott

[Wingsdlc]

Tried as I might I could not get the wrapped foam to stay. Cool pattern though.

[ScottP]

2mm foam is a bit more of a challenge for me to work with; if you have some 1mm stuff, you may find it easier. It took me a lot of trial-and-error to get the hang of it, and I still only hit at about 60% success rate (although some of the rejects are still useable) but they're fun to play around with.

Regards,
Scott