This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Harrop’s CDC Rusty Paraspinner.
I hope you were able to read a recent post, Importance of Imitating Mayfly Spinners. Since I’ve been thinking about spinners for a few days, I thought I’d find one to feature in a TBT post.
Harrop’s CDC Rusty Paraspinner was created by Bonnie Harrop of the House of Harrop and René Harrop’s wife. The goal was to enhance the visibility of the traditional rusty spent-wing pattern. A grizzly hackle is used to create the illusion of the flat spinner wing by trimming a “V” in the forward parachute hackle fibers, while allowing a flat profile with segmented biot body.
You may have heard of René Harrop and Trouthunter Fly Shop on the banks of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River in Last Chance, ID. The Harrop family are known for their fly tying prowess and fly patterns utilizing CDC feathers. It’s where I purchase my CDC feathers.
In a January 2014 Fly Fisherman magazine article, René cites Lunn’s Particular as “the original” Rusty Spinner fly pattern.
I featured Lunn’s Particular in a TBT post back in October 2017.
“William J. Lunn was the river keeper for the Houghton Club’s fifteen mile stretch of the river Test in England from 1887 through 1931, a total of 45 years.
Lunn is credited with the first representation of the Rusty Spinner. The fly design incorporates a key component of the real fly – a slender, segmented body.
Lunn’s Particular was developed in the spring of 1917, which makes this fly 100 years old!”
To see more creative fly patterns or just hone your fly fishing skills, pick up Harrop’s terrific book Learning from the Water (2010).
Enjoy…go fish, stay safe!
