Spinner
Also called Mayfly spinner, Spent spinner, Spent-wing mayfly
A spinner is a dry fly that imitates an adult mayfly after it has mated and fallen spent on the water, usually with wings laid flat to the sides.
- Group
- Dry fly patterns
- Category
- Flies & fly types
- Level
- Intermediate
- Water
- Freshwater
Last updated
What Spinner means
After a mayfly mates in the air, it often drops back to the river with its wings outstretched and riding low. That stage is called a spinner, and trout can key on it hard when the fall is heavy.
Spinner patterns are tied to sit flush in the surface film with a slim body and “spent” wings. They’re commonly matched by size and color to the hatch in front of you, and they’re usually presented with a drag-free drift in softer seams, slicks, and tailouts where naturals collect.
Why it matters on the water
Spinner falls can be brief and concentrated, and the takes are often quiet. Recognizing spinners keeps you from cycling through attractors when trout are really looking for a low-floating, flat-wing silhouette.
Because the fly rides in the film, small amounts of drag or micro-drag can kill the look. Longer leaders, finer tippet, and a careful approach to slack and mending tend to show up as more confident eats when fish are feeding on spinners.
Read next
- Blue-winged olive“Blue-winged olive” (BWO) is the common fly-fishing name for several small mayflies in the Baetis group. Anglers use it to describe the hatch and the flies used to match it.
- FloatantA floatant is a treatment put on a dry fly or leader to keep it riding higher and shedding water. It comes as a gel, liquid, spray, or powder.
- ParachuteA parachute is a dry-fly style with the hackle wrapped horizontally around a post, so the fly rides low and stays visible.
- TricoTrico is a tiny mayfly (genus Tricorythodes) best known for dense summer morning hatches and spinner falls. On many trout rivers it brings selective fish and fine-tippet dry-fly fishing.