Dave Whitlock's yarn-and-deer-hair hopper has been the standard against which hopper patterns are measured since the 1970s. A red deer-hair tail with a loop of yellow yarn over it, a clipped brown palmer over the yellow body, mottled turkey wing, knotted pheasant-tail kicker legs, and a spun deer-hair head with a trailing collar. No foam anywhere — it earns its float the traditional way.
1. Thread base — Attach yellow thread behind the eye and build a base to the bend.
2. Tail — Tie in a small tuft of red-dyed deer hair at the bend.
3. Body loop — Tie in a length of yellow yarn at the bend, leaving a short loop extending back over the tail.
4. Body hackle prep — Tie in a brown hackle by the tip at the bend.
5. Body — Wind the yellow yarn forward to the 2/3 point in touching turns. Tie off.
6. Palmer — Wind the brown hackle forward over the body in open spirals. Tie off, then clip the hackle short all around — a stubble that suggests legs and adds float without bulk.
7. Underwing — Tie in a small bunch of pale yellow deer hair over the body.
8. Wing — Tie in a section of mottled turkey wing quill tent-style over the underwing, extending to the tail. A drop of flexible cement keeps it intact.
9. Legs — Tie in one knotted bundle of pheasant tail fibers along each side, knees up.
10. Head & collar — Spin 2–3 clumps of natural deer hair, leaving the first clump's tips sweeping rearward as a collar. Clip the head square-ish, flat on the bottom. Whip finish and cement.
