I need to up my hopper invertory. What would be the top 2 sizes for fishing Pa’s small to medium creeks, south central areas?
j:
You might not like the simplicity of my answer but I have a theory about terrestrials:
Since the majority of terrestrials are opportunistic meals for a fish; in other words, they occasionally plop in; I only tie one size. I pick the size that most closely approximates the bug; for example where I fish Japanese Beetles are common. A size 16 is about right. That is the only size beetle I tie & I catch a gazillion trout with them in the same geography you are talking about.
I feel that if a trout is hungry, and a big bug comes floating by; AND he has no other bug to compare its size to; he’ll grab it. Now if I’m fishing a flying ant hatch or something where large number of terrestrials are floating by that changes things but to be honest; that hardly ever happens.
Bottom line all of my beetles, bees, ants, inchworms, hoppers, and crickets are tied in one size; that being the size that comes closest to the natural.
It works for me…
While I agree with bamboozle about size not being as important with terrestrials. The relative size of naterals is important IMO.
Some insects do not grow much when they are adults. Others do. Most insects that have a larval and pupa stage do not grow much while in the adult stage. Others that go from egg to juvenile to adult do grow when they are adults. Hoppers and crickets are the latter.
During late spring and early summer, hoppers are small down to size 16. As the summer wears on they grow. Males don’t grow as large so during late summer you can have a range of 12’s to 4’s. If the hoppers around PA are anything like the ones in NY I would say try 12’s and 8’s in colors that match the naturals. Usually light yellow to dark orange bellies. Don’t forget a tan through brown to black for crickets on cool humid mornings near grass banks.
I am not saying that fish won’t take a large hopper in the spring or a tiny one in the late summer. But if you want to match the nateral progression of the insects look up the native species in your area and follow their life cycles. A good insect identification book of PA may be worth picking up if you are interested in learning more. Good Luck.
I like to think of it like this big hopper big fish