The Mop Fly was born in the late 1990's in Western North Carolina at the vise of Jim Estes. Jim is credited as the first to use the unique material from a Dollar Store mop to imitate the bright green sourwood worms that fell from trees into local waters during the summer months, where they regularly became food for the critters swimming beneath the surface. Since those days, the Mop has been tied in nearly every color imaginable and fished throughout the world to great success. It catches a number of different species, is easy to tie, and the materials to whip up a handful are readily available.
Nowadays, the little nubs from a specific type of mop that originally comprised the chief material in the fly have largely been replaced with a wide variety of special chenilles sold by tying companies like Semperfli and Hareline Dubbin. I've used most of them at some point and find the modern mop chenilles to be most durable and they come in infinite hues of both solid and mottled colors, often with a little added sparkle just for curb appeal. Make sure to melt the end of the chenille with a flame to prevent it from unravelling and fish to your heart's content.
Mops have long held a reputation as being a "trash fly", lumped in with other such monstrosities as eggs and worms. If that's a problem for you, just imagine you're imitating a cranefly larva, large caddis larva or terrestrial caterpillar that inched a little too close to the edge of a branch before ending up in the drink. Fish don't just eat things because they replicate the one-legged stillborn sub imago mayfly that are readily available during the afternoon hatch. They also eat out of curiosity, especially when the object drifting by is the equivalent of a juicy quarter pound cheeseburger and a potential protein-packed bite.
Mops are awesome as a searching fly, especially fished as the anchor in a two fly dropper rig. I can throw a 3.5 mm or larger slotted tungsten bead on the hook to help get things sunk and add a smaller, perhaps more imitative nymph pattern above it on a leader tag end. Some days the little nymph is more effective, but I like to think that big Mop fly at least helped draw attention to the smaller pattern. Much of the time, it's the Mop that gets eaten, particularly in higher or off-color river conditions. Don't overlook fishing Mops on your favorite stillwaters too, particularly in the late spring and early summer when large dragonfly nymphs tend to be most active. When tied in shades of green, olive, brown or black, the Mop is a deadly lake fly in its own right.
If you're not already fishing them and have yet to experience the magic of the Mop, give that inner purist the day off when the river's risen with snowmelt and tumble the Mopster Mop fly along the cobbled bottom. You just might be glad you gave it a chance.
Mopster MOP Fly Recipe:
Hook: #12 Fulling Mill Jig Force
Bead: 3mm Hanak Black Nickel Slotted Tungsten
Thread: Black 70 Denier Ultra Thread
Body: Semperfli 6mm Mopster Chenille Danica
Collar: Black Monster Bush Fur Dubbing