Gary and his brother Colin spent some time on Four Springs one day during October.
Bright blue sky and very calm, flat conditions with very few duns hatching, but spinner scattered over the water laying their eggs. Very exciting fishing, tracking these quality fish that move around and are hard to predict.
Good mayfly spinner imitations and accurate fly placement will undo these fish.
The black spinner fly pictured emphasises the long tails, sparse quill body, and minimal hackle.
The hook is a size 12, and strong enough wire to handle these wild browns around the 2kg mark.
The wing here is CDC, and it’s only a single feather.
The hackle is parachute and minimal. If you over-hackle the fly in these glassy conditions the trout won’t be fooled. The sacrifice is the sparse hackle that won’t float forever.
Mayfly emergers and the black spinner are amongst the most important flies in my dry fly box throughout the entire Tasmanian trout fishing season on all rivers and lakes.
