Following on from last week’s early and late strategy, the standout event on the water right now is the evening spinner fall. As the light fades, mated female olives return to the river to lay their eggs before dying spent on the surface, and for a short window trout key in on them with real confidence.
It’s a different kind of fishing to matching a dun hatch. Spinners sit flush in the surface film rather than riding upright, so a good spent pattern with a low profile makes all the difference. We’ve had reports of some excellent fish coming out on classic spinner imitations over the last few evenings, particularly on the slower glides where the naturals tend to collect. If you can only fish one window this week, make it the last hour of daylight.
This week’s featured pattern is a simple spinner, tied with a slim dubbed body, sparse hackle fibre wings tied flat in the surface film, and a small tail of microfilaments. It’s not a complicated tie, but it’s an essential one to have in a range of sizes and colours through July and August. Traditional lunns particular and sherry spinner patterns also feature heavily at the top row of the fly boxes this month.
Fish it on a long, fine leader with minimal drag, and resist the urge to strike too quickly, spinner takes can be subtle, more of a gentle sip than the confident rise you get to a dun. Give the fish a moment to turn down before lifting.
That’s all from me this week, hopefully see some of you out on the bank for the evening rise.
Wishing you the very best of luck and the tightest of lines if you’re beside the river in the next few days.
Best wishes,
Jamie Hayes-Pankhurst
Founder & Managing Director
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