THE RUSTY SPINNER
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A very nice Rusty Spinner tied by Byron Haugh
Materials:
- Hook: Dai-Riki #310, ring-eyed, or a standard dry fly hook of your choice Size: 16, 18
- Thread: Light dun or light olive, 8/0
- Tails: Hackle fibers or Micofibbets; I like to use barred wood duck.
- Body: Rusty beaver dubbing
- Thorax: Rusty beaver dubbing
- Hackle: White Hackle, clipped to shape
The rusty spinner is one of my "go to flies" when I am fishing on one of my local spring creeks during the evening hours. It is a good imitation for the Pale Morning Dun spinner and it seems to work well during those times when there are no spinners evident.
My flies are not as good looking as Byron's but they seem to work for me. It was over 40 years ago when I had the great pleasure to meet fish with and become a friend with Vince Marinaro. He showed me his favorite spinner pattern, which is illustrated in his first book, A Modern Dry Fly Code. Vince would wrap the thorax area of his flies with hackle and then clip the hackle to form the wings. He would clip the hackle from the top and the bottom making a fly with completely spent wings or he would clip the hackle to allow the wings to be slightly lifted off the water. Since that time I have tied most of my spinners using this technique.
Insert hook in vice
Attach thread and wrap to rear just above hook point
Attach tails
Wrap small amount of dubbing on thread – keep it thin
Wrap slightly tapered thin body
Tie in hackle, shiny side facing you, build up thorax, clip excess hackle fiber
Wrap hackle over the thorax
Clip excess hackle, whip finish head, clip hackle top and bottom
Finished fly – top view
A recent victim – 16½ inch spring creek brown trout
This fly is simple and easy to tie. You can split the tails or tie them in straight, both perform equally well. I tie some with the wings fully spent, I tie some with the wings in a slight V so that the fly can rock from one wing to the other and I have even tied some with just one wing on one side.
The Chronicler
For more great info, check out:
Beginning Fly Tying | Intermediate Fly Tying | Advanced Fly Tying.