Dry FliesBoy Wonder Hopper
The Boy Wonder Hopper is Charlie Craven's refined foam hopper pattern that combines proven fish-catching design with modern materials. This pattern features a tan foam body with a striking pink deer hair hot spot, blended poly yarn wing, and prominent rubber legs. The streamlined profile floats high while presenting a realistic hopper silhouette that trout find irresistible during the grasshopper season.
Summer, Fall
Intermediate
Trout
Dec 2025
Overview
This Charlie Craven pattern from Charlie's Fly Box showcases the evolution of foam hopper design for Western trout waters. The Boy Wonder combines structural simplicity with effective fish-catching elements including a prominent pink hot spot that acts as a visible strike indicator while adding attractor appeal. The dual wing system provides both visibility for the angler and a natural profile for the fish. The gold amber black rubber legs create lifelike movement that triggers aggressive strikes from trout conditioned to feed on hoppers.
Materials
Hook: Tiemco 100SP-BL or Tiemco 100, #8
Thread: Danville 3/0 Monocord, tan
Body: Fly Foam, 3mm, tan
Adhesive: Zap-A-Gap
Underwing: Polypropylene Macramé Yarn, blended
Hot Spot: Deer Belly Hair, pink
Legs: Fly Enhancer Legs, gold amber black
Overwing: Whitetail or All-Purpose Deer Hair, natural
Behavior & Presentation
Natural Behavior: Grasshoppers jump or fall from streamside grasses, hitting water with heavy splashes that announce their arrival. They kick vigorously with powerful legs, creating surface commotion that triggers aggressive strikes from opportunistic trout.
Where Trout Eat It: All-around hopper water from tailwaters to freestone rivers where trout rise to terrestrials along banks. Fish hold in moderate current, taking hoppers opportunistically with the pink hot spot providing visibility.
How to Fish It: Drift tight to banks with occasional twitches. The pink hot spot means you never lose track in choppy water while legs create movement.
Best Water: Target bank structure—tailwater grass edges, freestone undercuts, meadow margins in 1-4 feet.
Strike Type: Trout explode through the surface to engulf this pattern, creating dramatic splashes and immediate rod loading. The pink hot spot helps you track violent strikes that often miss initially, with fish circling back for second attempts when the hopper continues kicking on the surface.
Fishing Strategy
Rigging Suggestions: Fish on a 9-foot leader tapering to 3X-4X tippet for good turnover and presentation. The foam construction provides excellent buoyancy, making this an ideal indicator fly for a hopper-dropper rig.
Seasonal Timing: and early fall when grasshoppers are abundant along streamside meadows. Peak hopper activity occurs during warm, windy afternoons from July through September.
Pro Tips: The pink deer hair hot spot makes the fly easy to track even in choppy water.
Entomology
Grasshoppers enter water accidentally through wind displacement or poor landings along stream banks, creating dramatic splashdowns that announce their arrival. Once waterborne, these terrestrials struggle violently with powerful leg kicks while trapped in surface tension, producing vibrations that fish detect from considerable distances. Their substantial size and high caloric value trigger explosive feeding responses, making them premium opportunistic prey during late summer months.
- Order
- Orthoptera
- Family
- Acrididae
- Common Name
- Grasshopper
- Organism Type
- terrestrial
- Life Stage
- adult