been meaning to post this for a while.
summer nights, spinner fall on the river. sipping trout. but no light left. After a couple of fiddly, frustrating nights keeping very sparse CDC patterns afloat, I wondered about using the more robust deer hair for wings. Having some fine light coloured DH to use, I came up with this:
It's not going to win any awards for finesse or beauty, but it did its job. This one in the pic has been chewed and used.
This one is a hefty size 16; fatter & bigger than the actual spinners on the water of course but still worked.
Hook is a Grip 11013 BL #16
Body of red thread.
Tail (optional?) - a couple of strands of something. I used 2-3 longer deer hairs.
Wing of coastal deer hair.
Tie in the thread, tie in the tails, wrap down and back up. The tie in a bunch of the wing hair on top of shank, parallel to it, tips facing forwards. Roughly divide the wing in two, and use figure of 8 wraps to split the wings. It's fiddly and messy.
Don't bother to stack the hair before tying in - uneven tips gives a nice curved outer wing.
I must practice this over the winter to get it neater, tidier, sparser.
cheers
iain