The Chubby Chernobyl is one of the best fish-catching flies around and a pattern that belongs in every fly box, as well as the honorable mention in our Top Hopper Flies. Originally designed as a high-floating attractor, it imitates a variety of large terrestrial insects like grasshoppers, stoneflies, and drakes, but it also works exceptionally well as a general searching pattern for cruising or rising fish. The thick foam body, rubber legs, and double poly-wing give it a lifelike, fluttering profile and ensure it holds floatant well—even in fast or choppy water. Its buoyancy makes it an ideal top fly in a dry-dropper rig, easily supporting tungsten or beadhead nymphs and allowing anglers to target both surface-feeding fish and those feeding just below. Fish it tight to grassy banks, over riffles, or through pocket water, and don’t hesitate to use it throughout the summer and fall whenever fish are looking for a big, buggy meal.