Small Streams 8-25-18

Grass hopper patterns are essential for fishing area small streams this time of year.  There are exceptions such as patterns for the Big Elk Creek PM flav event, for speckled dun life cycle events on beaver ponds, for AM trico events, for PM caddis events, and for gray drake emergences on such as the Teton River. Hopper patterns, presented around overhead cover and water of good depth can be effective during these events.  Compared to mayflies and caddisflies, trout get more “bang for the buck”when rising to hoppers.  Its all about conservation of energy: how many rises does it take to gain the equivalent food value in mayflies or caddis flies compared to one rise to a drifting hopper?  The same applies to big stoneflies in season. So regardless of any other insect being available for trout, keep hopper patterns in that fly box for several weeks to come.