5 Pro Tips for Tying Foam Hoppers
With: adamsflycorner
If there’s one thing I love about fly fishing, it’s how it finds people in the wildest ways. We caught up with Adam, a fly tyer whose journey started with childhood doodles and a backyard river system (yes, really). What started as a mountain lake adventure turned into a full-blown passion for fly fishing and tying, and now he’s crafting some seriously fishy foam hoppers. From proportions to finding that sweet spot between realism and function, Adam’s got some solid tips—and a vision for the future.
What are your five key tips for tying foam hoppers, especially for beginners looking to perfect their technique?
1) “A hero is only as good as his weapon” - Hercules. Make sure you have good materials. Thread strong enough to make segments in the foam and anchor it down without also cutting it. Buoyant foam that can take a beating, and if you’re going to incorporate gluing, foam that glues well too. Lastly rubber legs that are tough with good stretch and keep knots well. If they have markings they need to be high-quality so they don’t rub off if you move the rubber leg around.
2) Stay away from right angles. I’ve heard it said before “there’s no right angles in nature“. So even if the grasshopper or beetle has a squarish body maybe consider trimming the corner. You can also use a lighter and give it a few quick passes to slightly round off any cuts or points you’ve made.
3) Do what you can to hide the shank. This is usually easy for people to do with dubbing up the length of the shank. With a lot of my flies, I like to make small incisions in the foam so that the shank hides in there. Another alternative is wrapping razor foam along the shank before pulling up the main foam piece.
4) Tie with the end in mind. Hopper flies are a lot more easy to not crowd the eye, but they still take planning ahead, especially because hoppers have strong segments, and their proportion sizes are key. This also counts for thread wraps, only wrap the bare necessity, especially on wraps where you’re tying in multiple materials. Not just for weight, but you want things to look consistent from below.
5) When you’re tying up a hopper pattern to match the hatch, work backwards. Find the insect you want to match and start there designing it in pieces backwards. This usually helps me if I’m stuck at the beginning of the tie, not knowing what step to take to achieve a good imitation at the end.
How did you get started in fly fishing and tying? Was there a specific moment that sparked your passion for it?
Two of my earliest interests were in drawing (doodles) and being near mountain water. When my twin brother Joseph and I got into mischief as toddlers, my parents found they could entertain us by laying us down with a ream of copy paper and pens. Thankfully for them, we'd be occupied for hours. I believe that early use of fine motor skills, and a growing artistic eye, was my unknown gateway into fly tying later on in life. I also remember my father taking me and some of my siblings up the canyon near our home to "explore" which really meant playing in the mountain creek there. Since we weren't able to do this often, my brother and I would also find ourselves building complex river systems through my parents' sloping vegetable garden. I loved watching the water flow.
Fast-forwarding years later an old friend invited me on a hike as we waited for a school semester to start. The plan was to hike to an alpine lake, and he would bring his fly rod. Since I enjoyed being in the mountains, and especially loved mountain water it was an easy yes, though I didn't really have a huge interest in fishing since all I'd done was conventional fishing for planters. Little did my buddy know what he was getting me in for. As I sat on the bank and watched him carefully hunt the Bonneville cutthroat with a good ol' Elk Hair Caddis, it was like all of my past interests and hobbies conjoined into one. That was the first time in my life I'd actually noticed a trout come up to the surface to eat something, this also would attribute greatly to my later on dry fly 'purist' affinity. I had a lot of different hobbies I'd picked up then put down in my life, but I knew before even trying that this was for me. After teaching me how to handle the trout, he even let me take a picture with one of his fish. I appreciate that he spared me the knowledge of this being a cardinal sin... hehe. I was, get ready for it... "hooked" *pun cringe*.
After buying the cheapest combo on Amazon and eventually getting into my own fish the rest was history. The tug was indeed the drug, as they say. As for the tying part, if we fast forward another 2-3 years my twin brother Joseph, who started fly fishing when I did, convinced me to start tying my own flies. It took him quite a bit of work to do so, I was a bit stubborn, but so was he. He was good at it and I figured if I could bum his flies off him then it was less work, and I'd save some money to boot. Not to mention as identical twins sometimes I felt bad following him or copying something he started, like I was riding his coattails. Due to my pre-existing love for finite crafts such as drawing I took on fly tying pretty hard after my first EHC. My excuse for finally entering the rabbit hole was that I'd only tie my 10 most fished patterns (to save money of course), oh how I and many many of us were wrong thinking that.
Fly tying can be both an art and a science. What’s one of the most rewarding parts of the process for you, and how do you approach the challenge of creating a perfect fly?
One of the most rewarding parts of this process for me is when I find the fine line between realism and fishability, how the fly rides on the water and whether or not it’s durable. Most of my fishing experience has been in highly pressured waters. I love being able to fish a hole after an unsuccessful angler, then getting into fish. Not because it’s me against them, but because it’s my fly against theirs. Ergo my creation versus a (likely) normal pattern those fish might see everyday. I haven't yet tied anything I (or someone else) wouldn't 100% fish.
What’s in the future for you, Adam? Any exciting projects, collaborations, or goals you’re working on in the world of fly fishing and tying?
I want to leave a legacy. All of my goals and everything I’m working on tie into that. I want my posterity to be proud of what I’ve left, even if they don’t fly fish or tie. I’d like to eventually gain a bigger following and participate on some pro teams of companies I genuinely believe in. Maybe write a book or two later on in life. But this would be all to pass along things that bring me joy to my beautiful wife and daughter, and anyone else.
