Found some baetis spinners in a small, still backwater of the Henry’s Fork a couple days ago. Took a few macro shots in the actual setting, even though it doesn’t look like they are on the water, and then used some photo processing software to crop and enlarge one of the pics. Thought you all might enjoy it.
The naturals would be about a size 18. Haven’t thought through how I would tie an imitation, yet. A sparse CDC or gray antron wing, CDL for the tails, dark olive or gray biot abdomen, dark gray dubbed thorax, and maybe several wraps of a grizzly dry fly hackle for legs / floatation ??
Anyone else care to venture a recipe for these little guys ??
There was also a neat series someone wrote (maybe JC but in not totally sure) on taking photos of flies underwater and the sight of fish and how the view is different from beneath the surface. Can’t find it now. If someone does, can you post a link or tell us how to get to it? I’d like to read it again.
Great photos! As for a suggested dressing, what about:
hook: sized to suit
Thread : bright orange, or yellow
Tail : white fibres
Body: blue grey dubbing (mole, or red fox underfur)
Rib : tying thread (like the water cricket rib)
Wings: starling quill slips
Hackle: dun
Fished the same stretch of the Henry’s Fork three times this week, with strong midge hatches, modest bwo hatches, and the baetis spinner fall, and have only seen a handfull of fish up. Talked to a couple other guys who have been on the same water and got the same story.
I’m wondering if the fishies are so well fed with the subsurface cafeteria line that they aren’t bothering with the little stuff on top.
Another friend fished upriver several miles late last week and did see a lot of fish up on the bwo hatch.
Hadn’t run into your question if trouts around here will turn onto a baetis spinner fall, but I know the Henry’s Fork fishies do like rusty spinners, during the PMD spinner fall. And during the mother’s day caddis hatch, I fish a Harrop’s Henry’s Fork Caddis quite successfully, partly, I think, because it represents a spent caddis as well as an emerger and cripple.
I decided to look up ‘spent spinners’ on my web-site,
and found quite a lot of unfinished business.
Never-the-less here is what I did find, it might be useful -
The Olives are missing, work in hand.
These are all based on UK flies, but some usefull dressing tips
like, wrapping bodies in strips of thin plastic sheet for transluscence,
Three of us fished the RR ranch back in '70. Walked in, carried our waders, crossed over the barbed wire fence, left our shoes there and put on our waders. Came back from fishing, found that some cows ate Oly’s shoes. Bummed him out for the whole rest of the day.
Another pattern you might want to try would be a waterhen bloa. I think, given the large number of olives you have, this would be a good one to try anyway.
Hook: 14 or 16
Thread: yellow, touch dubbed with mole, muscrat, or any other blue/grey dubbing (spin the thread to unwind it, wax, touch the dubbing to the thread, then spin to rewind the thread; this catches just enough of the touch dubbed fur)
Hackle: grey waterhen, but I think a greyish feather from a starling would be ok too.
Looks similar to the water cricket, but grey tinged and fuzzy. Used a lot as an early season pattern for olives in the UK.
Nice job on the photo. I wish my camera would do macro’s that close. But isn’t that a male dun? I think I would try a Olive Quill dun by A.K. Best. I have tied it using a wild turkey biot instead of the dyed hackle quill and it matches the color pretty close.
When I saw it live, it struck me that it was a spinner. But now that I look at the pic more closely, I believe you are right.
The “close up” is a combination of a very good macro function on my camera, and some cropping / enlarging with a photo software package that came with another camera I bought a couple months ago. I was surprised that the final pic had as much detail as it does.
Great shot! For a pattern, yellow thread, with two turns at the tail before dubbing the body with grey dubbing. Hackle with a darkish grey bit of starling and then tie the head with orange thread. You could also add two strands of dun coloured fibres for tails. A dry version would replace the hackle with dun cock, and ensure the tail fibres are stiff.
Jeff
P.S. I suppose this is just a more densely dubbed version of the Waterhen Bloa above, which makes me think all the more that would be a pattern worth your while.
