Learn/Fly Box/Parachute dry/Small Brown Hopper
SB
Parachute dry

Small Brown Hopper

Downsized late-season terrestrial
TroutSurface

Small brown hopper for the lesser terrestrials of late summer, including the NZ passion-vine hopper.

Fish this when

In late summer on grassy-banked rivers, particularly in New Zealand, once fish have seen enough big hoppers to grow wary of them and start picking off the smaller terrestrials and passion-vine hoppers still falling in.

Why it works

Its slimmer size 12-16 profile matches what's actually landing late in the season — smaller hoppers and passion-vine hoppers — rather than the bulkier size 6-10 silhouette of a standard hopper pattern.

Naturals it imitates
small terrestrial hopper / passion-vine hopper
Typical zone & fishable range
usually
Surface
Film
Subsurface
Deep
Setup sensitivity: medium
Hook range#12–16
Quick facts
Tying difficulty
Intermediate