Hot butt spider – Chatto’s tie

 

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 suggestive of a drowned insect.

Materials

 

Hook Bead Hot butt Thread Body Rib Hackle
Knapek grub hook #10 to #18 Brass Floss Black 5peacock herl Fine copper wire Partridge, hen or substitute

Process

 

A
  1. 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.
  2. Start off with the floss that you want to use as the butt and wind it in touching turns about a third of the way down the hook shank.
  3. Tie in some lead wire to add weight to the fly.
  4. Continue wrapping the thread in touching turns down the hook shank to part way round the bend of the hook.
  5. Wind the thread back over itself forming a solid colored butt.
  6. Take the thread about a third of the way up the hook shank.

 

B
  1. Tie the floss off with thread and wind the black thread back down the hook shank filling any ridges between the lead and the floss underbody as you go.
  2. Tie in a length of copper wire and two strands of peacock herl.

 

C
  1. Form the herl into a herl rope.
  2. Take one wrap of the herl rope behind the copper wire and then wind the herl rope along the hook shank to behind the bead head.
  3. Trim the excess herl.

 

D
  1. Wind the copper wire along the body of the fly forming 3 or 4 segments.
  2. Tie the copper wire off in front of the body and trim the excess copper wire.

 

E
  1. Select a slightly oversize hen hackle and tie it in by the butt just behind the bead head.
  2. Take just one or two full turns of the hackle directly behind the bead head and secure it in place with a few wraps of thread.
  3. Stroke the hackle tips back along the fly and then finish securing the hackle in that position with additional wraps of thread.
  4. Whip finish behind the bead head, trim the thread and varnish the thread behind the bead and the bead itself. If you don't varnish the bead it will tarnish quite quickly.

 



Last Updated: January 24, 2011
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Categories: Bead head nymphs, Bead head spiders, Flies
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