Ed Shenk's Letort Hopper was built for the flat, glassy limestone water of Pennsylvania's Letort Spring Run, where a bushy hopper draws refusals. It has no hackle at all: a yellow fur body, a flat mottled turkey wing, and a spun deer-hair head whose tips sweep back as a collar. The low, flush profile is the whole point.
1. Thread base — Attach yellow thread behind the eye and build a base to the bend.
2. Body — Dub a full sulfur-yellow body from the bend to the 2/3 point.
3. Wing — Tie in a rounded section of mottled turkey wing quill FLAT over the body, extending to the hook bend. A drop of flexible cement keeps it from splitting.
4. Head & collar — Spin a clump of natural deer hair just behind the eye. Clip the head to shape — flat on the bottom — but leave the natural tips sweeping back over the wing as a collar.
5. Finish — Whip finish in front of the head and apply head cement.
hook
thread
body
wing
head
