Fly Pattern: Gartside Pheasant Hopper
Tier's Name: Bill Kindler. Email: (see roster)
Date: 3.07.08. Phone: (see roster)
Fly Originator and History: Jack Gartside first tied it up while camping at Madison
Junction in Yellowstone Park in 1970 or there about. This hopper can be successfully
fished anywhere in Washington any where hoppers are present, color and size will
vary with local hoppers.
How the Fly is Fished
Suggested line and leader: 9' floating line with tapered leader and 4' Tippet.
Depth: Dry fly fished one the surface.
Suggested retrieve: Dry fly retrieve with random multiple twitches.
Comments: See the web site: http://www.jackgartside.com/step_pheasant_hopper.htm
Fly Material
Hook make /size / length: DAI 2461, 1270 or equivalent, 2X or 3X long, size# 6-14.
Thread: size / color /type: Danville's 6.0 or 3.0, color varies with body color.
Weighted? y/n : no.
Tail material size / color: Moose hair.
Body and thorax material size / color: Dry fly dubbing (color to vary).
Ribbing size / color: Furnace or dyed grizzly hackle feather to match body color
- use a size 16 hackle on a #12 hook.
Under wing size / color: Deer or elk hair (to extend to tip of tail).
Over wing size / color: Spar Varnished molted pheasant back feather
Head size / color: Deer or Elk hair trimmed to shape.
Legs (or kickers): Deer body hair on each side of the wing should extend to
approximately half the wing length.
Comment: The pheasant hopper is not a difficult fly to tie; however it is a
bit time consuming.
Tying Steps
Select and prepare a number of pheasant back feathers in varying sizes for tying.
To prepare a feather strip away all unnecessary fluff from the base and dip the
feather in spar varnish. Wth your finger wipe off excess varnish and stroke the
feather to shape so that you have a natural V-shape at tips and set aside to dry
for up to twelve hours. So plan ahead.
1. Tie in 6-8 moose body hairs for a tail on top of the hook roughly 2/3 the
shank length.
2. Make a dubbing loop, and move the thread forward. Add dubbing to the loop and
twist to the left, forming a dubbing rope.
3. Forming a medium size, smooth, uniform under body, wind the rope forward to
approximately 1/3 the way to the eye. Tie down and trim the excess.
4. Strip one side of a hackle feather, tie in by butt, and palmer over the body
about 5 turns. Tie down at front of body and trim excess. Trim hackle bottom,
and sides so the front hackle is slightly longer than the rear (front hackle
should be slightly longer than the hook gape).
5. Tie in a cleaned stacked and even clump of deer hair on top of hook shank
(at a point where body was tied off), the length to reach the tip of tail.
Trim excess butts.
6. Choose an appropriately sized, prepared pheasant back feather (one that will
extend to at least half way up the length of the tail) and cup over the body so
that it appears tent like. Tie down and trim excess.
7. Tie in a small clump of cleaned deer hair (stacked and even) on each side of
the wing. These legs should extend to the rear approximately half the length of
the wing. Trim butts, leaving about 1/2 so that they stand away from the shank
to form a sort of collar to allow for a smooth transition from the legs to the
tip of the head. Take a couple of wraps of thread tight in against the tie point
to lock in the hairs that will stand out away from the shank.
8. Finally tie in a clump of deer hair (bushed and cleaned) and tied in so the
butts point to the rear of the hook. Distribute hair evenly to form the head.
Trim to a hopper shape, squarish and slightly higher on top than on the sides
(which are clipped rather flat). Avoid a Muddler or cone shaped head. Also be
careful not to cut off the legs in the process of trimming.
Erik Simpson, 03.21.08.
