{{+1}}Tungsten bead head orange and partridge spider{{-1}}

If 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 get the ideas of what sort of fly your talking about when you call them bead head spiders.

I nearly always fish my bead head spiders on the point in a team of two flies and with a relatively heavily weighted nymph such as a TBH duracell jig nymph, TBH collared hare and copper or TBH chocolate caddis nymph on the dropper 60 or 70 centimetres up the leader.

Size #12

Size #16 with fabricated hackle.

Materials

Hook	Bead	Thread	Rib	Hackle
Hanak 260BL #12 & #16	Tungsten	Uni 6/0 safety orange	Gold ultra wire SM	Natural partridge

Process

A	Selecting and adding the tungsten bead. I fish my bead head spiders as my point fly and generally in conjunction with a heavier nymph that gets both the flies in my team down to where the fish are holding. The relatively small tungsten bead provides just enough weight to help me keep in contact with both flies throughout the drift which reduces some of the misses that are common with unweighted spiders particularly when they are swinging toward the end of their drift or being lifted at the end of the drift. The size and colour choice for the tungsten bead is fairly open but my preference is to use gold beads that are 2.0 mm for size #14 hooks and 2.5 mm for size #12 hooks. Most beads have a large opening at one end and a smaller opening at the other. Slide a tungsten bead over the point of the hook small opening first and position it behind the eye of the hook. Tie the thread in behind the bead.

Selecting and adding the tungsten bead.

I fish my bead head spiders as my point fly and generally in conjunction with a heavier nymph that gets both the flies in my team down to where the fish are holding. The relatively small tungsten bead provides just enough weight to help me keep in contact with both flies throughout the drift which reduces some of the misses that are common with unweighted spiders particularly when they are swinging toward the end of their drift or being lifted at the end of the drift. The size and colour choice for the tungsten bead is fairly open but my preference is to use gold beads that are 2.0 mm for size #14 hooks and 2.5 mm for size #12 hooks.

Most beads have a large opening at one end and a smaller opening at the other. Slide a tungsten bead over the point of the hook small opening first and position it behind the eye of the hook.
Tie the thread in behind the bead.

B	Building the body of the fly. Position a length of gold wire along the top of the hook shank and lock it in there. Understanding hooks

Building the body of the fly.

Position a length of gold wire along the top of the hook shank and lock it in there.

Understanding hooks

C	Continue winding the thread down to the bend of the hook in tight touching turns locking the gold wire in on top of the hook shank as you go. At the bend of the hook change direction with the thread and wind it forward to just a little behind the bead in tight touching turns. Understanding hooks

D	Wind the gold wire forward to just a little behind the bead in tight turns creating 6 or 7 body segments on the fly. Take 2 tight turns of the wire in front of the thread and then worry off the remaining gold wire.

E	Creating the soft hackle wing / legs. Select a hackle that has barbules that are around the length of the shank of the hook. Lock the hackle in place behind the bead with a couple of firm wraps of thread. Wet fly hackle

Creating the soft hackle wing / legs.

Select a hackle that has barbules that are around the length of the shank of the hook.
Lock the hackle in place behind the bead with a couple of firm wraps of thread.

Wet fly hackle

F	Using a sharp blade remove the hackle tip.

G	Take only one complete wrap of the hackle and lock it in place with a couple of firm wraps of thread.

H	Before trimming the excess hackle away stroke all of the wing / leg hackle material back and build up a thin collar between the hackle and the bead taking care not to force the hackle backwards.

I	Using a sharp blade remove the hackle butt. Varnish the collar and the bead taking care not to get any varnish in the eye of the hook or on the hackle. If you don't varnish unpainted beads you will find they will tarnish very quickly.