Hippie Stomper 11/02/2024 Photo Album

The hippie stomper has secured a spot as one of my top producing flies if not number one. The beauty of this fly is its versatility. I tie only size 14’s on a 2XL hook, and this creates a relatively small foam body fly. Perhaps I should experiment with more sizes and colors, but my success rate with my narrow offering makes me question how much improvement I could gain.

My versatility comment stems from the fly’s buoyancy and size. The foam structure allows the fly to float quite well, and this translates to supporting two size 14 beadhead nymphs. Unlike larger hopper patterns, however, the hippie stomper is lighter and thus yields a softer landing in low and clear conditions. When fish refuse my size eight hoppers and chubby Chernobyls, I resort to the hippie stomper, and quite often the downsizing pays dividends.

The Beginning of My Tying List and Inventory Count

If I wish to go with a dry fly presentation, the hippie stomper is very productive solo or as the lead fly on a double dry arrangement. During the past season I experienced many fine days using the hippie stomper as the first fly along with a more imitative fly behind it such as a deer hair caddis or comparadun. The hippie stomper is very visible, and this makes tracking the typically drab trailer much easier.

As a solo fly, it is also no slouch. I believe that it imitates terrestrials and green drakes as well as other fish food morsels. It just looks buggy. If I haven’t convinced you of the versatility of this fly, I am not sure what else I have to say. This fly probably spent more time on my line than any other in my box including the dependable hares ear nymph and salvation nymph.

The Hippie Stomper Look

I settled on peacock and dark olive ice dub, as my preferred body colors on the hippie stompers that I tie. The body is only visible under the overlying foam at the back of the abdomen, so I am not convinced that color makes a huge difference. The creator, Andrew Grillos, favors various colors of flashabou, a tinsel like product. I have some reds, a silver, a blue, purples and bright green tied with the flash, but I rarely resort to them.

During September I was losing hippie stompers at an alarming rate, so I inspected my damaged fly canister and discovered, that I had five in need of repair. I fixed them by replacing legs and reinforcing unraveling thread, and I ended the season with plenty in reserve.

Twenty Completed and the Necessary Materials

Because of my inventory scare, I decided to make the hippie stomper my first tie of the 2024 tying season. I counted my supply and discovered that I had 25, so I suppose my concern was over done. I checked my tying checklist from the previous year, and I began the season with forty. Since five of the 25 counted were refurbished, simple math revealed that I lost twenty flies or half my beginning inventory. I collected all the necessary materials and tied an additional twenty to bring my 2025 beginning inventory to 45. Hopefully this will suffice, although I am certain that hippie stomper usage will once again increase in the new year.

Purple Haze 02/16/2024 Photo Album

The purple haze has slowly gained relevance in my fly box over the last several years. For more information regarding my introduction to this fly, please click on this link to last year’s post.

I find myself increasingly resorting to this fly, particularly during the mid-summer time frame, when I desire a large and visible mayfly imitation. The white wing post makes the fly reasonably easy to track, and the purple body seems to be a surprising fish attractor. The purple haze is a solid favorite with my float trip guide, Reed, and I have simply expanded my usage from there.

I experienced minimal shrinkage during 2023, so I added two more flies to my purple haze supply. I am quite anxious for purple haze season in 2024.

Gray Stimulator 02/14/2024 Photo Album

The gray stimulator is the stimulator equivalent of an Adams. The gray color seems to cover all bases, and the bushy, high floating dry fly is a superb searching pattern under nearly all occasions. My post of 01/29/2020 is a great starting point to understand the applications and versatility of a gray stimulator.

I counted my inventory, and I was relatively satisfied with my supply, so I produced only two additional models to stay in practice.

Yellow Stimulator 02/13/2024 Photo Album

My post of 02/22/2022 is particularly enlightening when it comes to yellow stimulators. I pluck one of these from my fly box quite often in late June and early July when golden stoneflies and yellow sallies are in their prime emergence period, but they also work as great searching patterns throughout the summer.

I produced five additional copies to replenish my fly box for the upcoming season, and I am ready for dry fly action around the corner.

Deer Hair Caddis 02/11/2024 Photo Album

The deer hair caddis is very effective for prospecting lakes and small streams. In recent years I enjoyed quite a bit of success utilizing light gray and olive-brown size 16 deer hair caddis in a tandem dry fly arrangement along with a more visible lead fly such as a stimulator or hippie stomper. This combination seems to work quite well in small mountain streams. My post of 02/22/2021 provides solid supplemental information about the deer hair caddis.

I counted my deer hair caddis flies and determined that I needed nine additional in olive-brown and seven in light gray. I also carry light yellow and tan, but my supply of those body colors was adequate. I approached my Renzetti vise and churned out nine additional in olive-brown and seven of the light gray color. Bring on the spring, summer and fall caddis hatches.

Green Drake Comparadun 02/06/2024

Review my post of 02/07/2023 for the latest modifications of my green drake comparadun tying method. If you read this post, you will learn that there are occasions, when the parachute style loses its effectiveness, and in these instances I default to the comparadun. I suspect the large and dark fanned -shaped wing better represents the dark fluttering wing of a natural western green drake, and this explains its desirability during the heart of the hatch. This is not always the case, but I like having some in my fly box for that eventuality.

I concluded that my supply of comparaduns with moose mane tails needed to be augmented, so I produced seven new ones on a winter day. One is earmarked for my friend, Nate, and the remainder will get added to my fly storage container. I cannot wait for the green drakes in 2024.

Parachute Green Drake 02/05/2024 Photo Album

My post of 02/05/2023 does an excellent job of summarizing my takeaways from tying the parachute green drake over many years. It also contains a link to the previous year post, and you can trace my parachute green drake evolution back through time should you have the desire.

It is no secret that I love fishing to western green drakes, and who wouldn’t? Slap a highly visible size 12 or size 14 on your line and be confident that any fish in the vicinity will search them out and crush your fly. I have experienced days, when I only observed a pair of naturals, yet the resident trout could not resist my offerings. The trick is locating western green drake emergences on western rivers and streams. The timing differs substantially between freestone and tailwater drainages, with tailwaters lagging the freestones significantly.

My supply of parachute green drakes dwindled a bit during 2023, so I manufactured six new imitations for the upcoming season. One of these was donated to Nate, and the other five replaced shrinkage in my fly boxes. I have four months to wait for green drake action.

Mini Chubby Chernobyl 02/04/2024 Photo Album

I encountered an Instagram video of a tier producing a mini chubby Chernobyl, and I was instantly struck with the desire to add a few of these to my collection of flies. Why? Because quite often I am frustrated by repeated refusals to the large surface fly in a dry/dropper, and this translates to the fish ignoring the trailing dropper flies. Could a smaller-sized chubby Chernobyl resolve this problem? Downsizing has often been a successful strategy for overcoming the large fly refusal syndrome.

The mini chubby is very similar to its larger cousin. The main difference is possessing only one large poly wing instead of two. In addition, the tying video I viewed did not take the time to cover the segment thread wraps with dubbed turns. These two modifications make this fly somewhat faster to tie.

For my first effort in mini chubby production I churned out six; five for my fly boxes and one for my friend. I am anxious to test my downsizing theory on trout in 2024.