Rusty Spinner

The Rusty Spinner is one of the most versatile spent-wing patterns in fly fishing — a single fly that imitates the spent adults of a wide range of mayfly species including olives, sulphurs, cahills, and march browns. When mayfly spinners fall to the surface after mating, they lie flush in the film with wings outstretched, spent and motionless — and trout feed on them with a quiet, rhythmic selectivity that demands a precise, flush-film imitation.

Pattern Details

• Style: Spent-wing spinner / mayfly imitation
• Wings: Spent configuration — lies flush in the surface film to match the profile of a dead or dying spinner
• Best water: Rivers, tailwaters, and spring creeks — wherever mayfly spinner falls occur in the evening
• Target species: Trout
• Techniques: Dead-drifted flush in the surface film through feeding lanes during evening spinner falls; requires a drag-free drift and precise presentation
• Sizes available: 12, 14, 16, 18

Color Options

• Rusty — one of the most universally effective spinner colorways, matching the oxidized abdomen of spent mayflies across a broad range of species and seasons; available in sizes 14, 16
• Olive — covers the most common spinner colors on eastern and western rivers throughout the season; especially effective during BWO and PMD spinner falls; available in sizes 14, 16
• Adams — classic gray/brown blend that imitates a broad range of spent mayfly species in mixed-hatch conditions; available in sizes 12, 14, 16, 18

When the spinners are down and trout are sipping quietly in the film, the Rusty Spinner delivers the precise flush profile that selective fish are looking for — one pattern that covers a season’s worth of evening hatches.