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As long as there is a flow in a river to work a fly then English Spiders are an option. Particularly if you want to target educated fish in clear slower water. They land softly and are suggestive little flies. The combination of the buggy shape, the movement of the soft hackle often produce a hit. There is also the added benefit that they are so easy to tie. All river fly fishers should have a selection of English Spiders in their fly boxes.
I carry the following English type spider ties in my fly box. Whilst the materials vary the tie for each is basically the same.
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Many English flies have a spider version and Greenwells Glory is no exception. An interesting aspect of this fly is that the wing has been tied in beard style so as to camouflage the pint of the hook. The combination of the buggy shape, the movement of the soft hackle in the water often produce a hit. There is also the added benefit that they are so easy to tie. All river fly fishers should have a selection of English Spiders in their fly boxes. |
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Spiders are always a good option in rivers and whilst my “goto” spider is a partridge and orange the chartreuse version is always worth having on hand as an alternative. I don’t know what the trigger but from time to time trout switch onto chartreuse coloured flies and if you don’t have one in your kit your likely to fall behind or even worse, skunk the session. |
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This is undoubtedly my "go to" spider. Fish all over the world seem to find orange a trigger colour and along with the buggy shape and the movement of the soft hackle in the water this fly often produce a hit. There is also the added benefit that they are so easy to tie. All river fly fishers should have a selection of English Spiders in their fly boxes. |
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Where I fish, as the water warms up closer to lunch time your often find fish actively rising to March Brown Mayfly that are a mottled chocolate and dark grey in colour. I fish them in lakes to targeted rising fish, as a polaroiding fly and also as part of a loch style team and in river I find them a great swinging fly when fish are taking emergers just below the surface. |
Pink spider
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Pink body with silver rib an a gray partridge hackle. |
Materials for orange spider
| Hook |
Thread |
Rib |
Hackle |
| My preference would be to tie these on a barbless limerick style hook but as I have not found one yet I have settled for a Knapek wet 10-14 |
6/0 or finer thread or floss |
Silver ultra wire SM |
Natural partridge |
Process
| A |
- Catch the thread in at the 95% position and wind it back to just the 85% position. At that point catch the wire ribbing in and wind the thread back to about 5% up from the bend of the hook tying in the ribbing wire along the top of the hook shank as you go.
- Hold the wire up and take a few turns of the thread behind the wire.
- Wind the thread in touching turns back to the 85% position.
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| B |
- Wind the wire forward to the 85% position forming 5 or 6 body segments on the fly .
- Take two tight turns of the wire directly in front of the 85% position and worry off the excess wire.
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| C |
- Select a hackle that has herl that around twice as long as the gape of the hook.
- Tie in a hackle by the tip at the 85% position.
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| D |
- Using a sharp blade or sharp scissor points remove the excess hackle tip.
- Take 1 or 2 tuns of the hackle and lock it in place with a couple of firm wraps of thread. Don't over hackle the fly.
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| E |
- Using a sharp blade remove the excess hackle butt.
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| F |
- Stroke the hackle tips back along the fly and then finish securing the hackle in that position with additional wraps of thread.
- Build up a neat head in the remaining space in front of the hackle taking care not to force the hackle backwards.
- Whip finish and varnish the head taking care not to get any varnish in the eye of the hook or on the hackle.
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Last Updated: January 27, 2011
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