What it is
The Hareline Spent Stonefly Wing Cutter is a purpose-built cutter for making spent-style stonefly wings at the vise. It uses durable stainless steel, double-edge blades to cut cleanly and smoothly, which helps you turn out consistent wing shapes without ragged edges.
What to tie with it
Use it to punch out spent stonefly wing shapes for large Western stonefly patterns, especially when you want that flat, splayed silhouette. Tyers also use it to cut body components from sheet materials when they want matching, repeatable shapes for big bugs.
Flies and the fish they're for
This is aimed at spent-style stonefly patterns, which are a staple for big trout on Western rivers when adult stoneflies are on the water and fish are looking up for a high-calorie meal. Those same stonefly adults also get eaten in freestone streams and larger tailwaters, so the cutter earns its keep anywhere you’re tying big stonefly dries for trout. In the right season, those big, buggy stonefly dries are also a legitimate grayling fly in rivers where grayling see stoneflies.