Charlie Boy Hopper Fly Tying Instruction - Tied by Charlie Craven

I developed this pattern almost 20 years ago while guiding on Colorado’s Tarryall Creek. My clients were going through Dave’s Hoppers at an astounding rate and I figured there had to be a better option. While Dave’s fly works fine, it becomes waterlogged after a couple fish and is a pain to tie. The Charlie Boy Hopper (named after my son) meets all of my requirements in a hopper pattern: active rubber legs, incredible durability, realistic silhouette, good visibility, and great flotation. The best part is it is especially easy to tie. I like to fish Charlie Boys in the standard tan color, as it seems to be the most common color of the naturals, as well as in yellow, green, olive and even blue/green. The blue/green color (with red rubber legs) matches the hoppers found in the hay meadows along many of our mountain streams here in Colorado. The Charlie Boy Hopper also works great as an indicator dry with a dropper. Its high visibility and superior flotation make it a natural for this application.
Hook: TMC 100SP-BL #8-10, or TMC 5212 or TMC 5262 #4-8
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Thread: Tan 3/0 Monocord
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“Binder” Strip: 2mmX2mm Piece of foam
Body: Tan 2mm Thin Fly Foam
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Legs: Brown Medium Round Rubber Legs
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Wing: Natural Deer Hair
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Glue: Zap-A-Gap CA Glue
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Double Edge Razor Blades
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[@freddysflyz]

Thanks ya Mr. Craven! I appreciate your step-by-step tour through the tie and while yes, an easy tie, your instructions make it easier. I was looking for a good dry dropper fly and that led me here. Appreciate the video (and your others I learn from)! 🙏🏻🙏🏻All the best - Freddy

[@melstallard5862]

I’m so excited to see you’re recording new videos again. now I can work on all the bad habits I acquired while you were away! Thanks for sharing , Mel

[@tristannguyen3329]

HE’S ALIVE!!!

[@daveomd4595]

Welcome back Charlie. Good to see you back Great vid às always !

[@dom8397]

i know this is late, but thanks for the tutorial ive been looking for a quick and easy to tie hopper as ive never really tied with foam and this is perfect

[@jvmillsrn]

Always enjoy you videos and your books. A staple in my learning

[@mikeney5113]

Freak looking pattern.thanks Charlie for sharing

[@Hunter711pa]

Thank you for the video great looking hopper I’ll definitely be tying some of them up

[@davehall2160]

Gorgeous looking fly Need to give this one a try Thanks for the video

[@PinkPerch]

Very nice pattern

[@brianmozer3112]

Thanks for the video-nice pattern.

[@hankvana2149]

Good to see you posting again Charlie! Need to tie up some of these for bass and some "micro" sized ones for bluegills.

[@stephenbouchard8075]

Like this fly. Will definitely need to try it

[@43lbcat]

dig it. thanks for another great vid

[@scottmacdonald9269]

Charlie, this fly was my 1st bug with foam that I learned from you. It is still awesome.. A great dry dropper and also use it as a flying ant in black. Thanks for a great fly and remaking it for you videos.

[@charlieboutin3341]

👍👍 Thanks! Have a great Thanksgiving! 🦃🎣

[@ryanbradac6915]

great video. keep up the good work

[@cachi-7878]

Brilliant!

[@lenzflyfishing]

Brilliant. Struggling to learn how to tie a hopper because the foam constantly wants to roll on the hook. I will give this a shot asap. Thank you! 🐟

[@sonja9001]

Charlie, I am trying to make one with no glue today. I know it won’t last as long as a glued hopper. What I tried today was using a synthetic dubbing blend I hand blended and made it tight and fat on the hook first. Then I use thicker foam on the top only. The foam compresses ok on the dubbing. The hopper doesn’t look like it would sell in a fly shop, however when I look at it when it is upside down, I know I’ll catch a few fish on it. See what you made me do….my own thing. Thanks always.

[@josephh957]

Been waiting for a new video! Next time I’m in Denver I need to swing by, hoping you have some materials that St. Pete’s is having a tough time getting.

[@GeorgeSemel]

I tied some up back in July, yellow and tan. I live in CT. So I tied it in #12! I thought my old letort hopper that been my standby for over 40 years and the way I tie it was quick. Nope, this one is quicker and it's my favorite strike indicator too. All late summer and till the frost, I would put on a Charlie boy and then two feet of 6x and a # 18 PT. with a bead head or I just add a micro split shot. 50-50 split on hookups. I am going to make sure I got 4 dozen tied up for next season and a few more color combinations too.

[@chrisbukowski9434]

👍 nice

[@alexslomin]

Great video Charlie, thank you! What are your thoughts on a chubby style poly yarn wing in place of the deer hair?

[@HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

I just use my pocket knife to cut that tail...but I keep it sharpened with a 0.1 micron diamond strop =)

[@andreascott5815]

Love it! Thank you for yet another great tutorial. Finally a genius method of tying foam for an awesome hopper pattern! What size tippet should I use for that size hopper that won’t spin the tippet into a cork screw while casting?

[@CharliesFlyBox]

I usually use 3x

[@GeorgeSemel]

You can add a fly fishing swivel to your leader system and that will take care of leader twisting. I have gotten lazy in my old age, I don't like to fuss with leaders like I use to so I do tippet rings and swivels as needed. And no I have not noticed any less in my hookups or landed fish. I figure I get an extra hour a day fishing just not having to mess with leaders as much.

[@andreascott5815]

@@GeorgeSemel, thank you and tight lines George.

[@TTapMT]

Hi Charlie. Thank you for another great video. If you don’t have the Danville Monocord, can you use UNI 3/0 instead? Thank you.

[@CharliesFlyBox]

@@TTapMT 3/0 Uni is actually much bigger than 3/0 Danville so I wouldn’t recommend it. 6/0 Uni is about the same size but, being polyester rather than nylon, it builds up vertically a bit faster and doesn’t have the slickness that the monocord does. Ideally 3/0 Danville is the right stuff and I guess you could use 6/0 UNI if you had to but it is going to cause some problems

[@HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

hah, at my skill level this is a 30 minute tie =)