CATAU'S MICHIGAN HOPPER
Dan Catau is now retired and lives in Washington, Michigan. He was a prolific professional tyer who was active during the 70s, 80s and 90s. He has actually designed several extremely productive patterns over the years. One of those flies, I bring you today.
Materials:
- Hook: Mustad #R74-9672 4XL Size: 6-12
- Thread: Black or Yellow, 6/0
- Tail: Red Duck Quill, Calftail or Floss
- Body: Medium Yarn, yellow, green, or brown
- Rib: Brown, palmered
- Wing: Deer Hair
- Head: Trimmed buts from the wing
Laying down a good base of thread is a basic tying practice that all tyers should adopt. It keeps the rest of the materials from turning on the hook
Tie in your tail material. In this instance I chose the bucktail. No matter your material choice, be sure you trim it short.
Tie in both the hackle that you're going to palmer with and your body material. This pattern is tied with the traditional yarn, but you may prefer to tie it with one of the new, better floating poly yarns that are now available.
Run your thread forward followed by wrapping the yarn forward, then tie it off.
Palmer you hackle forward, seven or eight turns, then secure the hackle with your thread.
Select a clump of deer hair. I prefer to use a hair stacker to keep the tips even. Wrap it in at the throat, trude style, being sure not to extend the hair beyond the length of the tail. Trim the butts to form the head, caddis style.
Finish off the head and tie it off. Be generous with head cement.
Dan created this hopper pattern back in the 80's. It's very simplistic and extremely easy to tie. A great fly for a beginning tyer. Dan's flies were so popular that he actually tied some of them for actor William Conrad and professional golfer Jack Nicklaus. Dan is also an established author having published a book on 'hex' fishing in Michigan entitled: "In the Thrill of the Night" (1999).
See you on the water…..
Tom Deschaine
~www.michigandryflies.net~
For more great info, check out:
Beginning Fly Tying | Intermediate Fly Tying | Advanced Fly Tying.