I really like Charlie Craven’s Hi-viz Rusty Spinner but felt it needed to be beefed up a bit to use in some not-so-gentle water I fish in the summer, so I added more hackle fibers for the tail (skipped the split tail entirely) and an extra turn or two of wound hackle. The combination hackle/Congo Hair wing really stands out in lower light conditions, something I appreciate when trying to pick out these flies with the weird silvery sheen the water takes on at twilight. Also prefer goose biot over stripped quill for the body, mainly because I have a lot of them. I’ve used this in sizes 12-18 for everything from Hendrickson-PMD-Epeorus and it’s been pretty productive; being easy to tie makes it a winner, for me, on all counts.
hook - Dai Riki 320 #12-18
thread - Uni 8/0 rusty brown
tail - hackle fibers ginger
body - goose biot rust
thorax/head - beaver dubbing rust
wing - Congo Hair white
hackle - Golden Badger
Part 1
Mash barb and start thread at 75% point on shank
wrap thread back to shank right above hook barb
spin bobbin to tighten up thread and make a couple wraps to create thread bump (if you prefer a dubbing ball have at it), then wrap forward about one hook eye length
take a feather for tailing (this is a scapular - got a whole bag of them from Charlie Collins years ago and will never use them all up; if it’s not as good as prime spade hackle, it’s the next best thing)
pull a bunch of fibers off and even up the tips
lay the fibers on top of the hook to mark for length (for spinners, I like a longer tail and use the whole hook length; for duns, I usually use shank length only)
slide back to the tie in point
switch hands
a couple soft wraps
grab the fibers again and start wrapping back to the “bump”
when you get to the “bump” snap the bobbin downward at that wrap and, if the tying gods are smiling on you, the fibers should spread out and cock at an upward angle (helps the fly land and float properly)
trim the stub ends
take a moistened goose biot (turkey works well, too, but I think the goose provides better looking segmentation); the moisture makes them more flexible and less prone to cracking while winding; putting the notch side down makes the segmentation stand out - if you’d rather have it smooth, make it notch side up
tie in at the back and wind the thread back to the initial tie-in
grab biot with hackle pliers and wind forward; here’s the segmentation I was talking about - fish don’t seem to care either way, I just think it looks cool
tie the biot down and trim
take a bundle of Congo Hair (or whatever hydrophobic fibers you care to use) about the thickness of the hook gap; I like to melt the ends of the bunch to keep them together - makes it easy to tie up 5-6 flies at once
tie wing in at 75% mark (keep the length oversized; you’ll see why in 2 steps)
do the figure-8 thing to get the wing to stand out perpendicular
grab the ends of the wing and twist them - keeps the fibers (which tangle with just about everything) out of the way for the next few steps
prep a hackle feather - for this spinner I oversize the hackle by one (a #14 hackle for a #16 hook)
add a bit of dubbing (keep it thin)
untwist/separate wing, dub a bit behind, through and in front of the wing
wrap the hackle (4 turns behind for a #16) and 4 in front
tie down/trim hackle tip, add a bit more dubbing and half-hitch x 2
grab wing and pull back
trim wing even with hook bend and stand ends out again
trim hackle underneath fly flat (leave it on top, it helps with the visibility thing)
add a drop of Sally and you’re done; front view
profile
Lots of pics and lots of steps, but it’s really a simple fly to tie, it’s visible (especially in the low-light conditions when a lot of these suckers come back to the water), floats like a champ (works fine on flat water, too; tied a few black #22’s for the trico hatch on the Mo this summer) and catches it’s share.
The hackle improves visibility (for me) and floatation, so I have a fly I can see and I know will stay on top for more than 1 cast. Haven’t done any visual inspection of the fly’s profile; it’s worked well for me when spinners are falling or have been riding flush in the film for a while so I guess the fish are cool with it.
I’m not sure what you’re referring to; I’m happy enough with how the body turns out. Tying the wing in first would just have it in the way while tying the tail and tying it in before the body would be a real pain when trying to wrap the biot. I worked out these steps for speed as well as productivity but please feel free to do as you see fit.
Just an idea. For example, Catskill tiers generally tie in the wing before the tail. I most tie my duns with biot boddies - wings, tails, then body up to the wing. Tie it off right behind the wing.
The issue of the wing getting in the way could be dealt with by cutting the wing to size after the tie-in, I’d think.
As always in tying, it’s what you’re most comfortable with. I got my training from A.K. Best (not personally, unfortunately); I bought Production Fly Tying back in '89, adopted a lot of his philosophy (sadly, not his skill) and that’s where I’m at today, for better or worse. Give your sequencing a shot and please let me know how it turns out; love to see some pics.
AK was an early influence of mine too. Actually once took a class from him. Total hoot.
As I moved to using wonder wings on my duns, I changed to a more traditional tying sequence. I would point out that AK does advocate cutting the tail stub off at the wing tie-in point.
I bet that was fun. Talked to him at The Fly Fishing Show at College Park years ago; seemed to be a real decent guy. I see your point on the tail stub; should have extended the wraps back toward the wing pos and angle clipped there.
Byron,
Don’t know where he grewup but AK was the band director at Alpena High School for some years. That’s about 40 miles south of where I live. He was a good alto sax player. No wonder he’s such a great guy!!!
Scott,
Tried the style, but with a smoother body. Work??
Also wondering about a final step to shroud the bottom of the thorax from the hackling?? Granted, I used the wrong color thread, but it was already handy. What do you think? Without the “shroud”, the clipped hackling kind of detracts from the thorax?
This is my go-to dun pattern. The under thorax is the stub of the biot used to wrap the body.
This is the brain child of Bill Heckel (and undoubtedly others) of Frankfurt Illinois. Heckel uses unsplit wood duck wings for his wing. I’ve since moved on to using wonderwings instead of traditional hackle tips.
Thanks. A fellow tier on another site pointed out to me that the photos have a bit of a yellowish cast to them (I noticed that happens when I switch my little P & S to macro; tried to adjust the hue in IPhoto, but got some weird results). He suggested using a blue flood lightbulb to make the colors truer; I may give that a shot. In the meantime, I’ll just tell everyone I’m going through an ochre period.
No sweat Scott, I was too into following your examples to take much notice. You did a lot of good work prepping for that thread! Thanks…you stirred my tying yearn again.
No wonder he’s such a great guy!!!
