Re: My first Sunken Hopper Critique please
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:38 pm
Those are "Sweet." Fish will love 'em. 
I posted a comment under your "In this World" thread before reading this one--jumped the gun a bit.
Your patterns certainly are buggy looking and I'm sure will catch a ton of fish.
I would agree with Old Hat about palmering the hackle, particularly if you end up using a genetic hen or the like, and of course I think the knotted pheasant tail fibres would be better than going with the trimmed hackle stem as per my post on the other thread. I would also suggest a slightly longer shanked hook or an extended body if you're going with the dubbed head.
I like the red tuft tail in your last version above. I've always been a fan of the red tag fly and I think your pattern is really enhanced by it.
Just a thought... if you added a little chopped up CDC to your body dubbing you can add profile (and movement) without bulk. It might help make the pattern a little easier to cast if that's a factor.
Aaron