Wolfgang wrote:
and I don't recall ever catching a fish with one
on the few occasions that I tried, but fun stuff to play with.

Wolfgang

Didn't Vincent Marinaro make some experimental spinners
(adult mayflies, that is) with small clipped and plugged
quill bodies?

Marinaro used to be my fly tying role model, until
he published "In the Ring of the Rise" and tried
convice me (us) that a house fly pattern with crossed front
legs--made from two individual hackle fibers--was a reasonable
thing to do.

After that I took a deep breath and sigh, and reverted
back to my redneck roots.