- here are my directions for tying the hippie stomper -
Hippie Stomper Material List
Hook- TMC 3761, 6-18 (Umpqua’s new “Stubby T” hook works well for the 16 & 18 as well)
Thread- Ultra Thread, 70 denier, Black
Tail- Moose body hair
Overbody- 2 layers of foam, black on top, same color as underbody underneath
Overbody Sizing- Size 6-10, black layer is 2mm foam, under layer is 1mm foam. Size 12-16 both layers are 1mm foam. Size 18 black is 1mm under layer is .5mm foam.
Underbody- Holographic Flashabou
Wing- McFlylon dun or white
Hackle- Grizzly
Legs- Fine round rubber, barred
Grillos’ Hippie Stomper Tying Steps-
1- Lay down a tight thread base. Tie in your moose body hair tail about equal to the hook length. Cut two foam strips equal to or slightly wider than the hook gap. One will be the black overbody and one will be the colored underbody. To avoid creating a bulky tie-in cut the end of the strips into a point and then tie it in. Tie in two strands of holographic flashabou, doubled over your thread.
2- Tightly wrap your flashabou to the mid point of the hook and tie off. Pull your underbody foam forward and tie off at mid point of hook. Put a tiny drop of superglue on the top of the underbody and then pull the overbody forward and tie off. Advance thread to the end of the hook shank and tie off foam strips. Tie down/bury the foam “thorax” and tie in poly yarn wing on top of front half of fly. Tie in hackle.
3- Tie in legs on either side of the hook shank. I like to start at the mid point of the hook shank on the side closest to me and then stretch the legs forward while tying off to the front of the thorax. Stretching the rubber while tying in makes for a less bulky tie in. I then tie in the legs on the other side of the hook in the same manner.
4- Densely wrap your hackle forward and tie off. I like this fly to be very heavily hackled, it’s part of what makes this such a buoyant fly.
5- Carefully pull the foam head and wing out of the way and tie off your thread at the eye of the hook. Glue the tie off. Trim the foam “head” so it’s equal in length to the thorax. Trim the rear portion of the wing so it’s half the length of the foam overbody. Trim the front portion of the wing so it’s a little bit longer than your hackle. Trim the legs so they’re slightly shorter than the overall fly length.
6- Trim the underside of the hackle nearly flat on the bottom. This doesn’t affect the fly’s buoyancy and ensures that it will float upright on nearly every cast. Trimming the hackle also forces the fly to sit lower in the water, giving the fish a better look at their next meal. Apply a tiny drop of head cement to the flashabou body, to make it more durable.
The Hippie Stomper is commercially produced by Umpqua Flies and no one else.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I should be flattered that at least 6 shameless fly brands have copied my fly pattern. Some didn't even bother to change the name in their catalogs! The sad thing is that the copies are tied so poorly it's just disappointing to see these bad examples of my fly for sale when the Umpqua versions are tied much better than I can do them. If the hippie stompers at your local fly shop don’t look very good, ask if they’re Umpqua Hippie Stompers! -and of course I don’t mind guys tying to sell to buddies them on their own small scale. I wouldn’t have put the recipe out years ago, let alone put up a youtube video if I cared that much. There is a huge difference between a person selling a few flies, versus a trash fly brand selling copies of my pattern on a large scale.
