The mayfly spinner is the second adult winged stage of the mayfly life cycle. The spinners hatch once the duns have left the water’s surface and found cover on the underside of leaves and vegetation. Once there, the duns hatch into spinners. The spinners have clear wings as opposed to the milky wings of the dun. The body is also much whiter with clear black rings. Once early evening arrives the spinners start their distinctive mating dance with great swarms filling the air. Mating takes place and the female spinners make their way to the water to deposit their eggs. The female spinners die after depositing their eggs and great carpets of dead and dying mayfly can cover the water’s surface. The video below shows Frank Sawyer catching a trout with a Mayfly Spinner dry fly.
Purchase Mayfly Spinner Dry Flies
The best conditions for mayfly spinners are calm warm evenings. The three patterns below are the best of the many mayfly spinner imitations. Each have their strengths and weaknesses.
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Deerstalker
 Deerstalker
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Spent Gnat
 Spent Gnat
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Spent Mayfly
 Spent Mayfly
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Size 10 only |
Size 8 only |
Size 10 only |
| The Deerstalker is a mayfly spinner pattern. It represents the spent female spinners that die once they have deposited their eggs. The Deerstalker is best fished on calm evenings in the mayfly season (mid-May to mid-June), but can be fished late into summer when there are sporadic hatches. | The Spent Gnat is a mayfly spinner pattern that seems to work better on running water. No one seems to have a firm theory for why this should be so. The Spent Gnat can be used on any type of water but like all the mayfly spinner patterns a certain amount of experimentation should be conducted to identify the best pattern. | The Spent Mayfly is sparsely tied mayfly spinner pattern. Often the sparsely tied patterns have more success. This is because the dead female spinners lie in the surface film as opposed to on top. The sparse patterns sink into the surface film and are consequently more realistic. This characterisitic is most pronounced on calm water. |
| Rivers – Yes
Lakes – Yes Time of Year – Spring/Early Summer Weather/Time – Late Afternoon/Evening Rod - 9ft AFTM 5 Reel - AFTM 5, lightweight Line - AFTM 5, floating Leader - 8ft, floating polyleader Tippet - 3ft, 4.4lb fluorocarbon |
Rivers – Yes
Lakes – Yes Time of Year – Spring/Early Summer Weather/Time – Late Afternoon/Evening Rod - 9ft AFTM 5 Reel - AFTM 5, lightweight Line - AFTM 5, floating Leader - 8ft, floating polyleader Tippet - 3ft, 4.4lb fluorocarbon |
Rivers – Yes
Lakes – Yes Time of Year – Spring/Early Summer Weather/Time – Late Afternoon/Evening Rod - 9ft AFTM 5 Reel - AFTM 5, lightweight Line - AFTM 5, floating Leader - 8ft, floating polyleader Tippet - 3ft, 4.4lb fluorocarbon |
