#32 Spent Spinner

With the standard jaw, you can readily tie down to #24, even #26 at a push but

the midge jaw really excels when tying #28-#32 so thought some of you may be

interested in this, despite the low-grade photography... but here goes:

Fishing #32's is a greater challenge than tying them - and it's worth developing

competence at both skills for the rewards of catching on these small flies. There are

only four patterns I tie and fish on #30-#32's, the simplest of which is the spent

spinner. Any intermediate level tyer can do a good job of this. The following SBS is

based on a couple of years of refining methodology to the point that every step is

specific in the interests of tying a balanced, effective and robust fly... it's also a

pretty pattern and for me aesthetics are EVERYTHING.

Best results are achieved when tying with Uni Trico 17/0 or Gudebrod 10/0 thread.

Sheer 14/0 is an alternative, but better matched to tying #28-#30's due to a touch

more bulk. Sheer 14/0 also demands a little more care with thread control, due its

cord-like nature.

Hook: TMC 518 #32

Thread: Uni Trico 17/0

Tailing: Whisper Tails

Wing: Niche Midge Wing

Starting at the eye, lay a bed of flat thread to the bend, tie in and split the Whisper

tail and take the thread forward to the point of the hook.

Trim the Whisper tails and take a SINGLE wrap of flat thread forward to soften the

shoulder where the tailing ends.

Take the thread back to the bend with touching turns of flat thread to complete the

abdomen.

Apply colour to the abdomen with permanent marker. There are myriad options... I

use Letraset ProMarker sandstone to cover most of the local hatches.

Apply a darker shade of permanent marker to the thread and cord-up TIGHT.

Apply four turns of thread to form pronounced segmentation to the abdomen, and

allow the bobbin to hang free to un-cord/flatten the thread.

Take a SINGLE wrap of flattened thread forward over the shoulder produced when

the tails where trimmed.

There's no need to tie in your preferred winging material - simply slide the wing

underneath the far-side of the thread and position against the shoulder. Secure

with TWO figure-of-eight wraps of thread (four wraps). Apply a further THREE

wraps of thread behind the wing (two back, one forward) in order to taper the

abdomen/thorax interface.

Make ONE final wrap of thread forward, over the thorax to bring the thread to the

front of the wing. Finish with a THREE turn whip-finish to soften the bulb of the

thorax.

Trim the wing to length (1-3 times the body length covers most species for

imitative value... the choice is entirely yours for aesthetic appeal) by cutting in at

an angle 45 degrees to the abdomen. Flare the wing with your thumb nail (push up

and rock from side-to-side) and trim the wing further to form a neat profile.

There are a range of hook options for tying #30's

* TMC 518: straight shank pattern, good for fishing on and in the surface film

* Varivas 2300: as above with comparable shank length, and a useful, wider

gape

* TMC 2488: curved shank, ideal for drowned spinner patterns

* Varivas 2110: as above but with a very pronounced curve which produces a

uniquely pretty profile. It's worth adjusting the angle of the vice as you tie with this

hook to avoid thread slippage. Drop the vice forward when working on tails, and

preparing to rib

Wing material should be fine and also depends on fishing application:

* Niche Siliconised Polypropylene Yarn: The best performing yarn available, bar

none. No need to treat... simply fish on the surface film for the first three drifts, it

will naturally sink in to the film during the next three. Fish drowned thereafter to

cover all stages.

* Tiemco Aero Dry Wing: Standard and Fine. Niche SPY outperforms standard

Aero Dry Wing, the fine variant is however a delightful, super-fine alternative.

* Niche Shuck Yarn: You can treat this for surface fishing. I prefer to use it un-

treated for drowned spinners where it imitates the shimmer of wings brilliantly.

* Niche Midge Wing: Ideally suited to the scale of #32's and combines best-in-

class floatation for on/in-surface film fishing and is highly imitative with a subtle

and attractive shimmer.

* EP TPI Fibers: Another super-fine winging material, Watershed treated and

very easy to handle.

* All of the above are available in white and shades of light grey (Niche Shuck

Yarn is colourless, no options available or needed). You likely only need white to tie

spent spinners.

Without exception, when I start a tying a session, I start by tying a #32. When I

then scale up to #24 the hook becomes an expansive work area - if you adopt a

similar approach, I guarantee your tying will improve.