The Spinster Story
by George Glazener
When I first started fishing for striped bass in the early 80’s I tried the same old lures that everyone else was using – big Pencil poppers, 1 oz. lead head jigs with Sassy Shad bodies or plastic trailers, etc.. These didn’t work very well for me.
My long fishing experience had been with light tackle and I loved to fish jigs. However, I have this genetic defect that requires me to make my own jigs and lures. I carved a jig mold and made little hair jigs with a spinner – horsehead style. I fished them on structure and loved to crawl them over the “breakline” into channels. The 60 degree jig hook worked best for me.
I have caught and released thousands of stripers on my little jigs plus smallmouth bass in the 5 to 6 pound class, numerous largemouth bass, white bass, crappie and others. One of the largest critters I ever took on my jig was a Blue catfish that maxed out my 50-pound digital scale. That was a beaut!
When I started getting serious about fly fishing I thought why not clone my little jig into a fly pattern? that’s just what I did coming up with the Spinster Fly.
The Spinster fly was originally developed for Lake Texoma striped bass. Basic criteria for the fly were that it not only had to attract stripers when the bite was hot, but during adverse conditions as well. It was designed as a “jig fly”, tied on a 60 degree bend dig hook – a large hook with a wide gap. This hook enables the fly to be tied with less weight but will still run true with the hook point up. The hook can be used with almost any standard bucktail or streamer pattern, eliminating many of the “bendback” and “keel” hook problems. The hook is weighted forward to induce a dipping and diving, crippled baitfish action to the fly. This hook style also helps to minimize hang-ups on subsurface structure and snags. It’s hooking capability is superb!
Since first designing my little jig fly, I’ve documented hundreds of striped bass and other species caught and released on the Spinster – my little jig fly…
Other Productive Spinster Patterns
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| Shad Bucktail Minnow | Orange Peacock | |
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| Pink Peacock | Shad |