Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
It’s a hot breezy day in mid-August. A grasshopper slips from a grassy bank and falls with a plop to the stream below. A sinkhole in the water quickly opens beneath the hopper, and it disappears amid a deep, guttural, sucking sound. You smile, knowing full well what that slurp really means. It means the frustrating days of hatch matching, tiny flies, and fussy fish have passed. It’s now time to shed the vest/pack and return to basics. Time for a single fly box tucked in the shirt pocket. Time for uncomplicated fishing and impulsive trout. Yes, the time for terrestrials has finally arrived.
When hatches of mayflies and caddisflies decline in early summer, terrestrial insects sustain trout for months. Ants, beetles, grasshoppers, moths, crickets, leafhoppers and more fall or are blown into streams, where trout lie in wait. Ants and beetles are a trout’s bread and butter during summer and fall, but grasshoppers are the meat and potatoes. Large flies, stout tippets, explosive strikes, and big fish are the order of the day when hopper fishing.
Grasshoppers belong to the taxonomic order Orthoptera, which also includes crickets and locusts. Fly anglers usually associate hoppers with the American West, but hopper imitations date to the very beginnings of fly angling in England. Thomas Barker described the first hopper imitation in his 1651 book Barker’s Delight: The Art of Angling. Isaak Walton referenced Barker’s fly in his 1653 classic The Compleat Angler and wrote passionately about the effectiveness of grasshoppers as both live bait and imitative flies. Charles Cotton added two hopper patterns to the fifth edition of The Compleat Angler (1676), which he co-authored with Walton. Hopper flies, however, have never been very popular in Britain, possibly because the cool climate limits their abundance. North America, on the other hand, nurtures huge numbers of grasshoppers and locusts, especially in arid western states. Visit a fly shop in the West, and you’ll discover that the variety of modern hopper imitations is similarly huge. Why so many patterns? Because they all work! Offer thumb-sized hunks of foam and fiber to trout at times when meals are scarce, and the results are predictable: most all of the patterns work well.
The Madam X is a first-rate hopper imitation and general attractor that originated in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. Doug Swisher of Hamilton, MT designed and popularized the fly, but its origins likely also involve John Foust, a Bitterroot native, fishing guide, fly shop owner, and renowned fly tyer. Foust’s Ugly Rudamus fly is quite similar to Swisher’s Madam X, and both flies originated in the early 1980s in the same little Montana town. Coincidence? Perhaps, but it seems likely that Foust contributed to the madam’s design by serving as her inspiration. The Madam X incorporates two time-tested features of first-rate dry flies: (i) a body and wing of hollow deer hair tied “Trude style” for floatation and visibility, and (ii) a bullet head of deer-hair tied “reverse style” for a prominent head and deeply segmented body. The Madam X was one of the first dry flies to incorporate long, wiggly, rubber legs.
The Madam X is remarkably versatile. It floats like a cork and is highly visible to both trout and angler. It is an excellent searching pattern for exploring unfamiliar waters. The wing of deer hair imitates not only grasshoppers, but also stoneflies, moths, locusts, cicadas, caddisflies, and other insects. Fish a Madam X close to grassy banks, overhanging trees or bushes, and undercut banks or woody debris. A windy day will snarl your casts, but it will also increase your success. Deliver the fly with a pronounced splat, allow it to dead drift briefly, and then give the fly a little twitch. Rises by smaller fish can be explosive, but those of big fish are usually very deliberate. Don’t lose your cool when that hole in the water opens beneath your fly. Wait a moment or two, then set the hook on what might be the largest trout of your angling year.
Copyright 2021, Rusty Dunn
Madam X
Doug Swisher’s original pattern is tied only of bundled deer hair, but most Madam Xs today incorporate floss, dubbing, or yarn wrapped over the hair to match the colors of naturals. Wisconsin hoppers are various shades of green, yellow, or tan. An all-black Madam X is an excellent cricket imitation.
| Hook: |
Light wire, 2X- or 3X-long, #12 – #6 |
| Thread: |
Size and color to match local hoppers |
| Body & Tail: |
A bundle of natural deer or elk hair lashed to the hook shank |
| Wing & Head: |
Deer or elk hair tied tips forward over the eye and pulled back to form both the wing and a bullet head |
| Legs: |
Round rubber |
Madam X
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Last Updated: September 7, 2021 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
It’s a hot breezy day in mid-August. A grasshopper slips from a grassy bank and falls with a plop to the stream below. A sinkhole in the water quickly opens beneath the hopper, and it disappears amid a deep, guttural, sucking sound. You smile, knowing full well what that slurp really means. It means the frustrating days of hatch matching, tiny flies, and fussy fish have passed. It’s now time to shed the vest/pack and return to basics. Time for a single fly box tucked in the shirt pocket. Time for uncomplicated fishing and impulsive trout. Yes, the time for terrestrials has finally arrived.
When hatches of mayflies and caddisflies decline in early summer, terrestrial insects sustain trout for months. Ants, beetles, grasshoppers, moths, crickets, leafhoppers and more fall or are blown into streams, where trout lie in wait. Ants and beetles are a trout’s bread and butter during summer and fall, but grasshoppers are the meat and potatoes. Large flies, stout tippets, explosive strikes, and big fish are the order of the day when hopper fishing.
Grasshoppers belong to the taxonomic order Orthoptera, which also includes crickets and locusts. Fly anglers usually associate hoppers with the American West, but hopper imitations date to the very beginnings of fly angling in England. Thomas Barker described the first hopper imitation in his 1651 book Barker’s Delight: The Art of Angling. Isaak Walton referenced Barker’s fly in his 1653 classic The Compleat Angler and wrote passionately about the effectiveness of grasshoppers as both live bait and imitative flies. Charles Cotton added two hopper patterns to the fifth edition of The Compleat Angler (1676), which he co-authored with Walton. Hopper flies, however, have never been very popular in Britain, possibly because the cool climate limits their abundance. North America, on the other hand, nurtures huge numbers of grasshoppers and locusts, especially in arid western states. Visit a fly shop in the West, and you’ll discover that the variety of modern hopper imitations is similarly huge. Why so many patterns? Because they all work! Offer thumb-sized hunks of foam and fiber to trout at times when meals are scarce, and the results are predictable: most all of the patterns work well.
The Madam X is a first-rate hopper imitation and general attractor that originated in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. Doug Swisher of Hamilton, MT designed and popularized the fly, but its origins likely also involve John Foust, a Bitterroot native, fishing guide, fly shop owner, and renowned fly tyer. Foust’s Ugly Rudamus fly is quite similar to Swisher’s Madam X, and both flies originated in the early 1980s in the same little Montana town. Coincidence? Perhaps, but it seems likely that Foust contributed to the madam’s design by serving as her inspiration. The Madam X incorporates two time-tested features of first-rate dry flies: (i) a body and wing of hollow deer hair tied “Trude style” for floatation and visibility, and (ii) a bullet head of deer-hair tied “reverse style” for a prominent head and deeply segmented body. The Madam X was one of the first dry flies to incorporate long, wiggly, rubber legs.
The Madam X is remarkably versatile. It floats like a cork and is highly visible to both trout and angler. It is an excellent searching pattern for exploring unfamiliar waters. The wing of deer hair imitates not only grasshoppers, but also stoneflies, moths, locusts, cicadas, caddisflies, and other insects. Fish a Madam X close to grassy banks, overhanging trees or bushes, and undercut banks or woody debris. A windy day will snarl your casts, but it will also increase your success. Deliver the fly with a pronounced splat, allow it to dead drift briefly, and then give the fly a little twitch. Rises by smaller fish can be explosive, but those of big fish are usually very deliberate. Don’t lose your cool when that hole in the water opens beneath your fly. Wait a moment or two, then set the hook on what might be the largest trout of your angling year.
Copyright 2021, Rusty Dunn
Madam X
Doug Swisher’s original pattern is tied only of bundled deer hair, but most Madam Xs today incorporate floss, dubbing, or yarn wrapped over the hair to match the colors of naturals. Wisconsin hoppers are various shades of green, yellow, or tan. An all-black Madam X is an excellent cricket imitation.
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