F
Fishidiot
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
- Messages
- 9,960
Usually this time of year guys who throw terrestrials entertain thoughts of hoppers, and for good reason. Grasshoppers are at their largest and, at least from what I've observed, at their most active during hot days in late summer and early fall. However, there's a similar alternative that works well all summer, esp in the morning: crickets. Since I prefer to tie my terrestrials (those over about #18) with foam, I use basically the same method to tie both crickets and hoppers. While one can always stick to the venerable Chernobyl Ant, I like my flies a bit more realistic so tie my crickets with legs, tail, and antennae (note: crickets have long antennae while hoppers have short ones). While black foam works fine, if you observe crickets, most are brown with shades of dark gray. To replicate this, I like a brown fur dub body. This fur body also absorbs water and acts as a counterweight (along with a heavy nymph hook) to ensure that the fly rides upright on the surface with the visibility post visible. Like hoppers, large foam crickets also function very well as floaters for a hopper/dropper set up. Try a small wet ant under a cricket in the summer. This fly is fairly easy to tie although I'd hasten to add that some Superglue is very helpful in modest amounts, esp over the fur body before you lash down the foam to keep it from turning around the shank. The joint in the hind legs are also joined with Superglue. Crickets are versatile - tie one on some time if you're looking to try something different.
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