Mini DH Hopper Challenge

I have been tying my DH hopper in standard sizes for a while, it has been a very productive pattern. I tie it in a wide range of colors. I have a customer that has been ordering my DH hopper in size 12, he seems to really like it. He had a strange request this week, he wanted the DH hopper in a size 16. I thought about it and said I can do this. The biggest challenge with this fly would be what hook to use. A standard dry fly hook would have no gap left after you tie the fly. After a couple of tries I settled on a TMC2499SPBL hook is a size 12. The shanks length of that hook closely matched that of a size 16 2XL dry fly hook.   I also liked that it had a slight curve to the hook.

Group photo

I think this little hopper could hold a a good size dropper

Bottom view

I wish Montana Fly Co. made those red/black/yellow rubber legs in a small size

I think this little fly has a lot of potential as a attractor dry fly in these sizes. I'm also going to try it on the same hook but is a size 10.  I don't think I would take it any smaller than this.