GFA Hopper
GFA Hopper
The GFA or General Foam Attractor Hopper was created by Walter Wiese out of Parks’ Fly Shop in Gardiner, Montana.  The GFA Hopper is reminiscent of the Charlie Boy and Chaos Hopper, it is quick to tie, medium-sized and durable. It also floats lower in the water than some of the other foam hoppers and this seems to result in less refusals.

This variant of the original GFA Hopper pattern has worked really well on our smaller Alberta creeks, but it works equally well on the bigger rivers like the Bow River, Crowsnest River and Lower Oldman River during the summer.  This pattern is straight forward to tie and looks and fishes well in a variety of colors.

Materials
Hook: Tiemco TMC 2302 - size 10
Thread: UTC Ultra 140 – tan
Underbody: Peacock herl
Body: 2mm tan foam shaped with cutter
Wing: Bleached elk hair
Indicator Strip: 2mm foam - pink
Legs: Medium round rubber legs - brown/orange
Adhesive: Zap-a-Gap brush on & Pieroway’s premium head cement
Other: Chernobyl style tapered end foam body cutter – size medium

Tying Instructions
Step 1. Pre-make the hopper bodies by stamping out the required number with a Chernobyl style tapered end foam body cutter. You want strips of foam that are slightly wider than the hook gap.
Step 2. Insert the hook in the vise and attach the thread.
Step 3. Wrap a thread base onto the hook. End with the thread at the rear of the hook opposite the barb.
Step 4. Select four peacock herls and trim off the brittle ends. Next, attach the herls to the hook with forward wraps of thread.
Step 5.  Firmly tie down the peacock herls and end with the thread located an eye width behind the eye of the hook. Trim off the extra length of the peacock herls.
Step 6. Bind down the front half of the foam body with 3 or 4 firm wraps. You want the rear of the foam to extend off the back a hook gap in length.
Step 7. Coat the top of the peacock herl with Zap-a-Gap brush on.
Step 8. Spiral wrap the thread back to the rear securing the foam and creating three distinct body segments. End with the thread located across from the barb of the hook.
Step 9.  Spiral wrap the thread forward to the front, criss-crossing the previous thread wraps, to finish the three distinct body segments. End with the thread located on the wraps between segment 1 and 2.
Step 10. Clean and stack a bunch of bleached elk hair. Measure the stacked bunch of hair so that the wing will extend back just short of the rear of the foam body. Bind the hair down with 3 or 4 firm wraps and trim the butt ends close.
Step 11.  Apply Zap-a-Gap brush on to the elk hair butt ends and the top of segment 1. Pull the foam strip back over segment 1. Bind the foam down with 3 or 4 firm wraps and trim leaving a short collar of flared foam.
Step 12. Secure the indicator strip to the top of the fly with 2 firm wraps of thread. Trim so that the strip is flush with the foam collar.

The pink foam indicator strip acts as a visual aid to help the angler see the drift of this low riding pattern. It also provides additional floatation.
Step 13. Prepare a set of round rubber legs by cutting two individual pieces off the hank, folding them in half, and cutting. This should result in 4 roughly equal length round rubber legs. Tie a “knee” knot at the 2/3 point of each leg.

Bind down a leg to the near side of the fly, at the first segment tie in point of the body, with 2 or 3 thread wraps so that the “knee” knot is located roughly half way down the tail segment.
Step 14. Repeat by binding down the other leg to the far side of the fly so that the “knee” knot is also located roughly half way down the tail segment.
Step 15. Trim the front legs so they are one hook length long and the back legs, so they are 1 1/2 hook lengths long.
Step 16. Advance the thread forward under the head to the hook eye and whip finish.
Step 17. Carefully apply a small amount of premium head cement to the exposed thread wraps at the head, securing the legs and creating the body segments. You do not want to get head cement on the rubber legs or it will cause them to become brittle.
Your GFA Hopper is now complete and you are ready to head out On The Water!

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