Small Trout on Small Spinners?

xvigauge

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I know this is a fly fishing forum and I will rarely deviate, but I have recently thought another aspect of fishing the small streams of eastern Tennessee and western N. Carolina. I used to catch small rainbows in the creeks that empty into Lake Huron when I used to live up there on small Mepps type spinners. Just wondering if anyone has used small spinners in the southern streams and creeks and if you caught any trout.
Joe
 

Rip Tide

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Back when the definition of fly fishing was a little bit looser, fishing with "fly rod lures" was common.
Modern popping bugs evolved from that, but others were just scaled down versions of casting lures.
Crazy Ikes, Hula Poppers, and yes, Mepps style spinners, among many others.

I have a few that were my grandfather's including a couple of the spinners. They're small enough that I don't think you could cast them on a spin rod.
I've never tried them myself, except for the Hula Poppers. They must have been my grandfather's favorite as I have a few of those.
 

bigjim5589

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At one time, it was a common practice for some trout anglers to add a small spinner & clevise to the tippet ahead of a fly, even with fly gear. I used to do this frequently enough when I was a youngster, and caught many panfish as a result. Didn't do it much for trout, as trout fishing came along for me later in my life and I stuck to flies. It can be a very productive technique however. If you decide to go that route with a fly rod, use a small folded clevise & size 0 or 00 Colorado blade ahead of the fly. This works well with wet flies (size 10 works well) & streamer patterns, and a bead or two should be added between the clevise & knot. You may need to go a bit heavier with the tippet than you might with flies only, as a spinner can twist a tippet & leader unfortunately. It's been discussed on this forum how a tiny swivel may be useful with flies, so the same would certainly hold true with an added spinner blade.

Otherwise, the smaller size Roostertail spinners tossed with ultralight spinning tackle can be great for targeting trout, and/or panfish. I like throwing the smallest size jerkbait or crankbait lures too on ultralight gear. Even small stream SM bass can be loads of fun on such a light outfit & lures.

I still use other gear besides my fly gear, and generally remove trebles on lures & replace them with debarbed single hooks. This is better for the fish, makes releasing them easier & lessens the chances of a nasty flesh wound with the trebles.

Here's an alternative too. This one is a bit larger, size 4 hook, and something I'll only usually use for panfishing, but could be productive targeting trout. ;)
 

Ard

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I had a kit back in the late 60's, came from E. Hillie's Anglers Supply House, was a lure making kit. The blades were Swiss Swing brand and the beads were all colors but I used a lot of silver. If you made your own spinners you could make a size 00 which could not be found in a store, especially in all silver. I used a size 12 treble hook on them and they were deadly. I used 4 lb test line so you could cast the tiny light lures easily with my 5'6" St. Croix rod and after some practice could put one of those silver spinners wherever I wanted it.

That was........... 47 years ago and more when I did that. I killed so many trout (wild trout) that every spring when the ice melted we had to throw away a bunch of freezer burned fish to make room for the fresh slaughter. Even after I began to learn how to handle a fly rod I was still killing fish. By 1980 I owned more stuff, homes - vehicles - a cabin, you name it but I was still killing fish. Did I need them to eat? I had enough money to buy lobster and yellow fin tuna so why was I killing fish?

April 22nd. of 1980 I took five big ones from a creek for someone who had ask that I bring them some trout. I handed over the trout and ever since then I can account for every one I've killed and eaten while still fresh. I have not frozen a trout in 38 years and yes I believe I could catch a bunch still using the little spinners if I could find a source for components to make them from in size 00. The thing is I would only do that if I needed fish to eat and if that were the case I'd use a really big net or trot line.

Yeah, they work well :)
 

jayr

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I know this is a fly fishing forum and I will rarely deviate, but I have recently thought another aspect of fishing the small streams of eastern Tennessee and western N. Carolina. I used to catch small rainbows in the creeks that empty into Lake Huron when I used to live up there on small Mepps type spinners. Just wondering if anyone has used small spinners in the southern streams and creeks and if you caught any trout.
Joe
Yes, you can catch Trout in the Smokies and WNC using small spinners such as rooster tails. Your best time to do it is higher water. Also, use as light a line as you can.
 

philly

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I've tied a few flies using spinner blades mainly for pan fish. You can find size 00 Colorado blades in catalogs like Jan's Netcraft along with small clevises that you can slide onto a hook like a bead. Otherwise you can a use a small swivel and and attach the blade with a small split ring slide a bead on to the hook, then the swivel and then another bead and tie the fly behind it. Pushing the limits of what a fly is.
 

lil_ol_angler_me

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couple years back in 2013
1/8th oz Chartreuse Rooster tail
4'6" ultralight 4# magna thin (it really is thin)

Browns, one after another on the Caney Fork

all 12-22 inches

fished about 6 hours with a hit on about every third or fourth cast as I walked up stream
 

ia_trouter

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Spinners are effective for most any species. IMO use them when you are intentionally harvesting where appropriate, and no other time or place. Trebles are the worst idea ever for catch and releasing anything.
 

karstopo

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I remember the advertisements in the back of Field and Stream where Mepps was looking for squirrel tails. Seems like it was 25 cents per tail.

A local guide around here collects old fly patterns from 100 years ago. A lot of them are made from wood and metal and many look like much more like lures than flies. His comment about them was the conventional reels back then were so terrible that a fly set up was a much better option.

I haven't tossed spinners with the fly rod but have tossed crappie jigs. Crappie jigs with take a trout. I'd rather toss a small spinner with a fly rod than a spinning reel. The fly rod is more accurate and the fly reel doesn't have the issues spinning reels do. It's just tough to get a steady retrieve with a fly rod and reel by using the reel.
 

lil_ol_angler_me

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Spinners are effective for most any species. IMO use them when you are intentionally harvesting where appropriate, and no other time or place. Trebles are the worst idea ever for catch and releasing anything.
I use a curved hemostat and hold the hook by the shank and turn it upside down and the fish just shakes off in like 2 seconds,,,I've released hundreds if not thousands of fish ( including barracuda and small sharks this way) not handling the fish is a biggie for its healthy release

small flies just slip out and mr fish is on his way
 

ia_trouter

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I use a curved hemostat and hold the hook by the shank and turn it upside down and the fish just shakes off in like 2 seconds,,,I've released hundreds if not thousands of fish ( including barracuda and small sharks this way) not handling the fish is a biggie for its healthy release

small flies just slip out and mr fish is on his way
Trebles are an unnecessary risk for trout you intend to release. We'll just have to disagree on this one. I killed plenty of fish unintentionally when I regularly fished gear and trebles.
 
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