The spent mayfly or spinner can be the most important
fly pattern in your dry-fly box. Don’t ever leave
home without them because a spinner fall can occur any
time of the day. Some mayflies mate before dawn,
followed by a morning spinner fall. Others may mate
during the day with an afternoon or evening spinner
fall. Trout will often prefer the spinner to the dun
with both are on the water.
I think white hen hackle tips are the ideal material
for the wings on spinners since they become slightly
translucent when dressed with a waterproofing agent.
Hen necks are becoming easier to find in fly shops, and
the quality if improving with each passing year. I’ve
tried white poly yearn segments, but they just don’t
maintain their shape as well, oftentimes looking more
like a tiny white puffball than a pair of wings. Tie
the hen wing spinner as follows:
-
Tie the tail as described in tailing the dry fly,
but make it about a half hook gap longer than the hook
length and splay it. -
Wrap the body forward to within two hook-eye spaces
of the eye of the hook. -
Measure the wing tips to be at least two hook-eye
spaces longer than the entire hook, and select feathers
whose width is slightly larger than the hook gap. The
natural spinner slways has wings that are a little
longer and wider at the dun stage. -
Tie in the hen hackle-point wings exactly as
described for tying the dun.
- After dividing the wings with your forefinger
(photo above) press each wind down until it’s
horizontal. Figure-eight-wrap the wings as
described above.
- Apply a slightly darker dubbing to your tying
thread and figure-eight-dub in front of, behind,
and between each wing. Save only enough room
behind the eye for the head and whip finish.
~ AK
Credits: Excerpt from Production Fly Tying
by A.K. Best and published by Pruett Publishing Company.
You can find a review of the book: here.
Please check out the Fly Tying Section, on the Bulletin Board, here at FAOL too.
If you have any questions, tips, or techniques; send them to
[FAOL]
Originally published November 9, 2003 on Fly Anglers Online by A.K. Best.