Hendrickson Wet Spinner

Fly: Steve Williams, Photograph: Hans Weilenmann

Hook: Orvis standard dry fly. Size #12
Thread/abdomen: Pearsall's gossamer, Classic Chestnut color
Thorax: Mahogany colored seal fur
Wing: The palest dun dry fly hackle that you can find. Palmered in 4-5 open turns over the thorax and clipped flush with thorax on top and bottom.

Tying notes:
I began experimenting with wet spinner patterns in 1999 because I finally realized that they had the potential to be productive. I wanted to reduce my patterns to the bare essentials; those being translucence and an extremely slender body. This pattern has worked well for me, as has a Sulfer version tied with yellow Pearsall's silk and yellow seal fur in sizes #16 & #18. Over the past 3 years wet spinner patterns have accounted for roughly 1/3 of my spinner caught trout.

I fish these patterns both as single flies and as droppers tied to the hook bend of a dry spinner pattern with about 4" of tippet material. When fishing these patterns as single flies I've found that greasing the leader to within a few inches of the fly is helpful in suspending the fly just below the surface. In either case, a dead drift is essential.

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© 2002 Hans Weilenmann
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