It has been a while since a post here at Foul Hook, and there’s really no excuses for that. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to go fishing and write about it, but it just hasn’t happened. However, I have received a lot of new gear throughout the year so be on the lookout for some gear reviews in the future. Here’s the first of the reviews featuring the flies tied and sold by ben at Arizona Wanderings.

It was about a year ago now when I was looking for some flies to stock my fly boxes for the coming late spring and summertime hatches that occur here in the southeast. I found Ben’s Mini Hopper post at Arizona Wanderings, and have never looked back.

You won't get red in your set, but they'll look just like this. Photo courtesy AZ Wanderings.

First Impressions:

Brookie & Mini Hopper

After ordering my Mini Hopper set, they arrived quickly considering they shipped from Arizona to North Carolina.  Well packaged and cramped from their travel, I unpacked the little foam hoppers and began analyzing them.  Well tied and full of color, I couldn’t wait to try the out.  I found that they weren’t very effective early in the season.  I tried them throughout the early spring and had only a few takers.  Then, as the days got longer and the nights got warmer, I began using the Mini Hopper more and more, until it was  the only dry fly I used for about 6 weeks, July through August.  It was easily the most effective summer fly I’ve used.

Pros/Cons:

P: Quality – Each fly was tied with excellent quality and attention to detail.  I sometimes get picky about the quality of the flies I use, even though the fish seem to care less than I do. I often times tie my own flies so that I can control the quality of the flies, but I had no problem filling my box with these.

P: Selection – Ordering a set of a dozen Mini Hoppers gets you 4 colors, 3 flies of each color; brown, green, orange, and tan.  This is one of my favorite parts of the Mini Hopper set of flies.  It wasn’t so much that the fish cared about the color, but I felt the color helped to visually see the fly in all lighting conditions.  My favorite colors to use were orange and green, and they are easily visible in low light.  The brown and tan work well in good lighting or where the sun is located in front of you, it’s easy to spot the dark fly on the bright, light reflecting water.

P: Tying Instructions – If you prefer tying your own Mini Hoppers, Ben has posted a step-by-step tutorial on his website.  I think this is a great addition, even though it possibly takes away from the sales.  You won’t find tutorials for tying flies at typical online shops that sell flies.  I could have tied my own set of Mini Hoppers, but I felt it was well worth it to buy a set and support the Arizona Wanderings site.

C: Size Options – At the time of ordering I was only able to order size 12 flies.  I usually fish smaller flies and would have liked these in size 14, but after fishing them, I feel that is a negligible size difference and the fish didn’t care too much.

Set of Mini Hoppers. Photo courtesy AZ Wanderings.

Summary:

The AZ Wanderings Mini Hopper set is an excellent dry fly option for fishing in the Southeast.  It has become my go-to fly during the hot summer months and is the best dry fly for a dry-dropper rig.  The foam keeps the dry floating high all day with minimal floatant required. I will be buying another set to begin my 2012 summer fishing campaign.

The Verdict:

Buy it! You won’t regret it. These are excellent flies, good quality, and highly effective.  This should be your go-to summer fly as well as dry fly for dry-dropper or hopper-dropper set ups.

Brookie and Hopper. Photo courtesy AZ Wanderings.

Disclaimer:

All reviews here at Foul Hook are my honest opinion. I purchased or tied the flies featured in this review myself and have not been compensated financially or otherwise for writing this review. At the time of publication of this article, I have no affiliation with the AZ Wanderings shop.