When is the Passion Vine Hopper most available to trout?

February–April, typically 13:00–18:00. It picks up from about 14°C, peaks around 19°C and tails off by 25°C.

What flies imitate the Passion Vine Hopper?

Passion Vine Hopper, Small Brown Hopper, Hopper, typically on a #16–14 hook.

How big is the Passion Vine Hopper?

Adult stage: 6–8mm. That matches a #16–14 hook.

Terrestrial · Terrestrial

Passion Vine Hopper

Scolypopa australis

Size

6–8mm

Hook size

#16–14

Hatch window

Season February–AprilPeak time 13:00–18:00

Water temperature

19° peak

14°25°

How fish feed on it

Sold and tied under two names — Passion Vine Hopper and Lacewing are the same fly — and a genuine late-summer and autumn event across the North Island and the warmer parts of the South, not a filler pattern. It doesn't fall so much as get thrown: a gust catches the swarms clustered on vine and scrub near the water and puts a scattering of them onto the surface all at once, which is why the fishing here tends to come in short, intense bursts rather than a steady trickle — a strong blow, a flurry of feeding while what's down gets eaten, then quiet again until the next gust. Worth having tied on through February and March on North Island water especially; when the wind picks up, be ready rather than wait to see fish rising first.

Flies that imitate this

Passion Vine Hopper

Small Brown Hopper

Hopper

Ecology

Rivers & stillwaterFreestone rivers

Where you'll find this

New ZealandPresent

Present throughout

Identification

Scolypopa australis , commonly known as the passionvine hopper is a species of planthopper (Fulgoroidea) in the insect family Ricaniidae found in Australia. Despite their name, they are found not only on passion vines, but on many different plant species such as the lantana. Brown with partly transparent wings, they are about 7mm long as adults and 5mm as nymphs. As an adult they look somewhat like a moth to the untrained eye, and walk "like a...