I had an indescribable encounter with big black and red hoppers last May. I stopped under the Trinity River bridge east of Houston just to gaze at the river. I saw several big hoppers on grass reeds. I figured they would hop when I got near, but were very lethargic. I kept walking and saw hundreds of various sizes. I found a bag and caught a couple hundred. They never hardly moved. Took them home, put them in a rolled up hardware cloth roll, gave them grass and sprinkled water. Kept them for about a week. Caught many fish in the next week.
Only thing I could figure is that I caught them doing their equivalent of smoking after a romp in the grass.(mating season).
