Hook Size: 12/14/16
This is spinner stage of the Speckled Wing Quill. It imitates the insect when it fully develops and returns to the water to mate, deposit eggs, if the female, and both male and female fall dead spent on the water.. The Speckled Winged Quills are often called “Callibaetis”, which is the scientific name of the genus these mayflies belong too. They are found in slow moving water of streams and still water of lakes and ponds. Trout eat them in all stages of their life. A must for still water anglers.
Spinners usually begin to show up in late afternoon on the day the Speckled Wings
hatch. They will usually continue to mate and fall spent into the water until well after dark.
Callibaetis duns and spinners are usually a size 14 or 16, but also exist in size 12 in
certain locations. Make sure you have the right fly size.
The trout usually get a very good look at them. Sometimes spinner imitations work very
well and sometimes the trout seem to ignore them. You will not know until you try. You
should be able to see the trout taking the spinners on the surface if the wind is not
blowing. They just sip the spinners, so don’t look for a splashy rise.
Presentation:
Simply cast the spinner in the middle of the action and hold on. As with the other flies,
along leader and very light tippet will be needed in clear water situations. The clearer the
water – the longer and lighter the leader and tippet should be.
This type of fishing requires rather long cast. If you are fishing from a float tube or the
bank, it may not take record cast to catch fish. If you are fishing from a boat in very clear
water, you may need to haul the line to get the distance you need.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
