Bodkin / Patterns

Great Red Spinner

Dry Fly · Trout · Grayling · Intermediate · 2 versions

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Standard dry fly, 10-12
  • Thread Brown 8/0

Materials

  • Tail Red-brown cock hackle fibers (3-4 fibers)
  • Rib Fine gold wire (fine)
  • Body Red-brown seal's fur or dubbing (dubbed)
  • Hackle Red game (brown) cock hackle (1)
  • Wing (optional) Pale blue dun hackle points, spent (1 pair)

How to tie it

  1. Tie in long, well-spread tail fibers at the bend. A shank length and a half, as spinners carry long tails.
  2. Tie in the gold wire, then dub a slim red-brown body to the 70% mark.
  3. Counter-rib with 4-5 turns of wire to reinforce the dubbing and mark the segments.
  4. For the full spinner, set two pale dun hackle points flat and spent at right angles.
  5. Wind the red cock hackle 3-4 turns; clip beneath if you want it flush in the film. Whip finish.

Other versions

1 more in the app: Gregg Dressing (1940).

Tying videos

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