Hybrid spider nymph – Chatto’s original

 

This 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 want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather than just being an anchor for other flies in the team. Hybrid spider nymphs are good buggy looking flies and the tail and soft hackle provide plenty of movement. One of these spider nymphs on the top dropper and two unweighted spiders or nymphs below can be a real tease for trout.

Materials

 

Hook Bead Thread Tail Collar Hackle
Knapek lure #10 to #14 Tungsten bead:
black,
gold, or
copper
#10 = 3.5 mm
#12 = 3.0 mm
#14 = 2.5 mm
Complementary to the body Hackle fibres Floss Partridge or other soft hackle

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. Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook.
  3. Tie in a tail of hackle fibres. Take care not to make the tail too heavy 4 to 6 hackle fibres is generally enough.
  4. Tie in a length of copper wire along the top of the hook shank.

 

B
  1. Depending on the hybrid body your building tie in your body material 3 or 4 f pleasant tail hackle fibres by the tip, or a number of peacock herl,

    or
    Load your thread with dubbing.

 

C
  1. Wind the body material forward to form a thin body.

 

D
  1. Trim any excess body material.
  2. Tie in a soft hackle by either the tip.

 

E
  1. 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.
  2. I keep my floss loaded on a bobbin holder. Tie in a your floss with the thread and then use a wrap of floss to secure the thread before discarding that.

 

F
  1. Stroke the hackle tips back along the fly and then finish securing the hackle in that position with additional wraps of floss.
  2. Whip finish the floss behind the bead head to form a light collar.
  3. Trim the floss and varnish the floss collar and the bead itself. If you don't varnish the bead it may tarnish quite quickly.