Mossy Hopper SBS

Fly Patterns
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1

First saw this tied up by Bob Kramer when he ran his shop in Bridgewater, VA just down the road from Mossy Creek (hence the fly’s name). Despite the fact I’ve never seen too many ground hogs swimming in the stream, the materials provided by the unfortunate critter (plus a little hackle), seem to keep it on top of the water pretty well. A good fly for little streams, cast it at a distance and it’s a bit of a booger to see. A nice example of a fly that takes about as long to tie as it does to lose it.

hook - Dai Riki 320 #12
thread - Danville 6/0 brown
tails - woodchuck guard hair
body - woodchuck underfur
wing - woodchuck guard hair
hackle - brown/grizzly

Part 1

mash barb, attach the thread and wrap back to point above barb

cut a clump of woodchuck guard hairs, comb out underfur (save for the body)

measure tail for length (hook gap) and tie in; brush a little Super Glue on the wraps to keep it from torquing (optional)

mix up the underfur; I just pulled it apart a few times to get a rough mix

spin bobbin to unwind thread and split; insert dubbing and spin bobbin to capture dubbing (don’t make it too tight)

2

Part 2

wrap body; pick it out (I used velcro’d popsickle stick) if you want it a bit shaggy

clean, stack another clump of guard hairs (keep the underfur for the next fly); let the tips extend even with the tail

tie down wing and apply a few posting wraps at the front to tilt the butts up a bit

tie in hackles; wrap forward, tie down, half hitch x 2 and SHHAN

trim wing butts a little past the hook eye; go fishing

trim hackle flat on bottom for lowrider effect (optional)

I’m pretty sure this fly’s been around in one form or other for a while - if I remember correctly, Chuck Stranhan, who runs a flyshop in Hamilton on the Bitterroot, came up with something similar.

Regards,
Scott

3

Scott, the tail and wing with that Woodchuck is gorgeous. Nicely done.