Frank Reid wrote:
The final one is then spinners that have slipped below the surface.
This one you may miss. If you see the spinners dropping onto the
water, use a spinner pattern with splayed out wings as a sub-surface
fly. Fish it like a nymph. You'll nail tons of fish.
Frank Reid

Hi Frank,

What an extremely well written response. Thank you!

It is this final stage I am targeting. In Ralph and Lisa
Cutter's "Bugs of the Underworld" Ralph describes exactly
what you describe. Now on the other hand, in Ozzie's
"The underwater world of Trout: Feeding Lies", he shows
what looks all so very much like a Mayfly Dun, but he
never identifies them as such. He shows them going to
the water's edge, trapping air along their bodies,
crawling under water, laying their eggs on the bottom,
then dying and floating up to the surface where they
get caught under the film. Ozzie's point was that
you would never see these bugs in this state and would
wonder what the trout were feeding on. He shows
a very revealing split underwater / above water picture
to prove his point. He also shows the bug with
air still trapped along its side, even after it dies.

Ralph makes the point that their are zillions
of different types of Mayflies. I do believe my stream
has the ones that Ozzie filmed. I never see Duns on the
surface of the water. Ever. And I constantly seeing
trout picking some invisible thing off just under the film.

So how to fish. I do believe exactly what you said
is the best route.

But, back to my original question: how do you simulate
the air trapped along the side of the bugs body? From
Ozzie's photos, the silverly/shiny effect is a beckon
that attracts anything hungry in the area. Any idea how
to duplicate this? Above water I may not be able to see this,
but under water, the bugs might as well have a flashing
strobe lights on it!

Not to sound too stupid, but after writing all this,
it occurred to me that the "spinner pattern" you
recommended may accommodate the trapped air. If so,
never mind. :-)

Many thanks,
-T