Pontoon Hopper

Unusual grasshopper pattern developed by Charles Craighead, improved by Bill Bennett, and popularized by Vincent Marinaro. Marinaro promoted the pattern in his influential book A Modern Dry Fly Code.  Mike Valla also documented this fly in his excellent book The Founding Flies. The body is a turkey quill plugged at the open end with cork, and the legs are the pontoons that keep the fly upright on the water. The fly is tied on a treble hook with two of the hooks clipped off.  This provides a stable attachment for the hook to the body.  By all accounts, this is an ingenious and effective grasshopper pattern.