Stooped Jassid

Autumn brings mixed emotions for the fly fisher: the excitement of renewed surface activity after the heat of summer is tinged with the knowledge that winter and the closed season will soon arrive.

One of the highlights of autumn is the arrival of leaf hoppers, or jassids as they are known (see FL#35). There are several similar species that frequent eucalypts at this time of year, all placed under the banner of the ‘Common Jassid’. At 10 to 12 mm in length they are some of the largest leaf-hopper species, while their bright red underbodies and black wing cases make identification easy. The main variation between these close species is the white patterning on their wing cases: mainland species displaying several dots while the Tasmanian variety (and the subject of greatest fly fishing interest) has a fine netting type pattern.

Commonly appearing in March and April, jassids prefer similar conditions to gum beetles with mild temperatures seeing them active and on the wing, with a bit of breeze then helping to disperse them over the water. Many believe their abundance to be somewhat cyclical, with good numbers appearing every 5 to 7 years. There may be some substance to this observation as they are closely related to cicadas and many cicada species are known to have set multiple-year life cycles. However, jassids do seem to put in an appearance at some stage most years.

The trout often seem to eagerly await their arrival, rising freely as soon as jassids appear on the water and at times cruising through rafts of gum beetles to pick out the less numerous jassids. Now all this sounds like some sort of fly fishing nirvana with fish rising and keyed into a decent sized prey, but it’s never that easy, is it? Trout can be infuriatingly fussy when on jassids, ignoring seemingly perfect patterns with barely a sideways glance.

Inevitably most fly tiers collect a few eager recipients for their flies. Perhaps unfairly referred to as ‘scammers’ in some circles, these fellow anglers provide valuable feedback on patterns and prey items. A cumulative result of more eyes and time on the water, the Stooped Jassid is an amalgamation of all the observations gleaned from my group of scammers.

STOOPED JASSID

Hook: Hanak H260BL #14

Thread: Red Uni-Thread 8/0

Body: Red floss, red & black 2 mm closed cell foam sheet

Wings: Virtual-Nymph Waterwing

Legs: Red deer hair

TYING NOTES

1. Lay down thread base and tie in black foam.

2. Tie in wings wider than foam.

3. Neaten with a layer of floss.

4. Tie in red foam with open wraps.

5. Spin deer hair in dubbing loop.

6. Wrap legs and tie off.

7. Bring foam and wings forward, tie off securely and whip finish.

8. Trim foam, trim legs and colour with permanent marker.

Size was the first point mentioned. Many fly patterns are slightly larger than the natural and this can work well, making your fly stand out from numerous naturals. However, once the trout began to get fussy it was the smaller jassid patterns that were getting the takes, so a short shank size 14 hook became the starting point. This gave me a smaller fly but retained a decent gape to aid hook-ups. Foam was hard to pass up for the body — Bruce Gibson’s foam Jassid had always been my go-to fly with its foam body providing the wedge shape and the low floating appearance of the natural.

With the main components of the pattern set it was down to the finer points, hopefully adding those triggers to tempt a take from the trout. Legs are a feature in many of my patterns — there aren’t many flies that can’t be improved by adding legs. Most jassid patterns include some sort of leg or a hackle to represent them, although I believe many are too short. Jassids have quite long legs for their size, with rear legs that reach back further than their body length. At rest they are held close to the body but once in the water they spread them out as they flail around attempting to gain a purchase on something.

Another clue was in the colour of their wings — a bright iridescent blue. Normally tucked away unseen under their wing cases, many jassids seem to have trouble folding their wings away neatly after a water landing, leaving a trace of blue wing protruding from beneath the wing cases.

Despite these inclusions, the Stooped Jassid is a relatively easy pattern to tie. Begin with a neat base of thread and add a drop of superglue to help stop the foam spinning around the hook shank later on. Tie in an 8 mm wide strip of black foam covering the rear two thirds of the hook shank — crushing the foam with your thumb nail will help reduce its bulk and make tying in easier. Cut the winging material to shape and tie in. I use a mayfly wing cutter for neatness, but a teardrop shape slightly wider than the foam works just as well. Neaten up the tied- in material with a layer of red thread or floss before tying in a 5 mm strip of bright red foam for the underbody. Again crush the foam slightly and use wide turns of thread to create a segmented appearance.

Split your thread or form a small dubbing loop in front of the foam and place 5 deer hair fibres in, before giving it a quick spin and a single wrap to represent the legs. Carefully brush the fibres down with your fingers and then bring the red foam forward, stretching slightly and tying down firmly in front of the legs. Fold the black foam forward, bringing the wings with it, stretch slightly and tie down at the same point as the red foam. Adjust the wings as needed when you bring the foam forward to help them sit correctly. Complete the tying with a whip finish, and trim both pieces of foam level with the front of the hook eye. Finally trim the legs to approximately two hook gapes in length and colour the bottom half black with a permanent marker to match the naturals.

The Stooped Jassid is a collaborative outcome, based on feedback from some excellent anglers. A ‘Stoop’ is a suggested collective noun for a group of entomologists, as they spend much of their time bent over microscopes and insect display cases, and it seemed an appropriate name given the collective of ideas that contributed towards the pattern.