Josh Jenkins says “Smallmouth bass are a dynamic species. In my local Michigan waters, their forage will change throughout the year. Tactics generally shift from large streamer patterns in the spring, to finesse top water flies in the late summer and fall. This finesse game is my favorite part of the year, with weary fish and visual interactions. I designed the Safe House Hopper and Damzel Washington specifically for this purpose. Both are based on the same underlying pattern: a tapered, cylindrical foam body with a cupped head. The cupped head creates a stellar popping noise relative to the size of the fly, but it works equally as well when skated or dead drifted. While it excels for smallmouth bass and other warm water species, dont overlook its potential for a more active terrestrial trout pattern.