Bead head spiders
An important part of my bead head fly box. I am a firm believer that when fishing rivers you have to get down to where the fish are holding and also that flies particularly in faster running water should include “hot spots”. These flies satisfy both these requirements. I tend to use my bead head spiders as anchor flies and to fish one or two less weighted or even unweighted flies below it.
Have a look at a full list of bead head spiders featured on this web site: QUICK LINK
From the above list I choose to carry just these few: BBH= Brass bead head TBH= Tungsten bead head
TBH partridge and orange spider |
 |
TBH hybrid caddis spider nymph |
 |
TBH hybrid march brown spider nymph |
 |
TBH dark magic spider nymph |
 |
TBH hybrid brown and peacock spider nymph |
 |
TBH partridge and lime spider |
 |
Hot butt red |
 |
Hot butt chartreuse |
 |
Bead Head spider type flies are amongst the best flies for fishing fast rivers and streams. They are suggestive little flies and the combination of buggy shape, the peacock herl body, the movement of the soft hackle and the trigger of the hot butt often produce a hit. This mid water fly is...
Last Updated: April 2026This is a hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front and are particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather than just being an anchor for other flies in the...
Last Updated: April 2026This is more a class of flies rather than just one fly and is a hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front. I carry 4 different hybrid spider nymphs in two sizes and find them particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still...
Last Updated: April 2026Bead Head thread spider type flies are amongst the best flies for fishing fast rivers and streams. They are suggestive little flies and the combination of buggy shape and the movement of the soft hackle often produce a hit. There is also the added benefit that they are so easy to tie. Finding good...
Last Updated: April 2026If you were to suggest to a traditional North Country (UK) fly fisher that there is such a thing as a bead head spider they would think your a rod section short of a fly rod. For their sake you could call this fly and my other "bead head spiders" "bead head soft hackles" but I find that more people...
Last Updated: April 2026If you were to suggest to a North Country (UK) fly fisherman that there is such a thing as a bead spider they would think your a rod section short of a fly rod. For their sake you could call this fly and my other "bead head spiders" "bead head soft hackles" but I find that more people get the ideas...
Last Updated: April 2026This is a hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front and is particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather than just being an anchor for other flies in the...
Last Updated: April 2026This is my favourite hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front. I carry this fly in two sizes and find them particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather...
Last Updated: April 2026If you were to suggest to a North Country (UK) fly fisher that there is such a thing as a tungsten bead head spider they would think your a rod section short of a fly rod. For their sake you could call this fly and my other "bead head spiders" "bead head soft hackles" but I find that more people...
Last Updated: April 2026