Krusty Rusty

The rusty spinner is one of the most important spent wings in your fly box.  It can represent the adult stage of many different mayfly species, especially olives.  If fishing out west, it is imperative to have them in sizes 16 – 20 for the various and numerous PMD hatches.  The trout also can be at times finicky and will refuse one pattern of rusty spinner but take one that is not that much different.  So it’s a good idea to have a few different ties you can switch to.  This version provides a realistic silhouette to the trout.  Use 2 strands of Krystal Flash when tying sizes 16 and 18, 3 strands for larger flies and 1 strand for smaller ones.  Different shades of dubbing from ginger to dark brown can be used for the thorax to match the natural being imitated.  The tails can be tied split or clumped depending on preference.

Hook : Dry fly; #12 – #22

Tail : Clear microfibettes

Abdomen : Root beer Krystal Flash

Wing : Clear zelon

Thorax : Synthetic dubbing

Alan Bowers

Fly tied by Al Bowers