| Channel flies are a lot like bonefish flies:
you don't lose many. If you snag a Crazy Charlie
on a coral head in 18" of water you walk over to the
fly and retrieve it.
If you snag a Channel Hopper on a log--break the line. All you lose is the hook. The unsinkable Channel Hopper will float right back to you like an obedient Labrador retriever. If you snag a Channel Hopper on a high branch--break the line. The Hopper will fall right down. Because the size of the fly is decoupled from the size of the hook, you can use a relatively small hook, even for a jumbo size hopper. Small hooks combined with ultra-lightweight EVA foam make an absolutely unsinkable fly. However, if you want to use a Channel Hopper as a bobber fly (as a strike indicator) then you do have to loop the tippet through the channel, over top the thorax and then back out through the channel again. This does work. Looping the tippet out through the channel twice does make the hopper move whenever the nymph moves. And if you snag the main hopper hook and break the tippet, the tag end of the tippet still slips off the fly. ...so the hopper still comes back to you, like a homesick boomerang. I love it. You can fish all summer long on a half a dozen hopper flies. Is this worth the effort? I guess that remains to be seen. This is an experimental fly. If all this Channel Hopper stuff puts you off, tie the same modular hopper body, but lash it down onto a standard hopper hook instead. It won't float quite as well and you will lose it if you snag the hook. But it's still a damn good hopper. Best there is, next a real Channel Hopper, that is ;-) |
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Start the Channel
Body Blank
Add the Wing
Add Kicker Legs
Attach Body to Channel
Sew Legs Remove Tubing
Ready to Fish
Salmon Fly Top
Salmon Fly Bottom