The Greenwell Spider

[scotfly]

This is the Greenwells Spider as requested by Fred.

HOOK ? Kamasan B160  #12 ? 16
SILK ? Pearsall?s Yellow waxed with cobblers wax
BODY ? Silk
RIB ? Gold Wire
HACKLE ? Greenwells (Furnace) Hen

On most spiders I tie my body the full length of the hook. If it?s your preference you can tie it in the Clyde or Tummel styles. I will leave it to those more qualified than me to explain the differences and reasons for the different styles.
Many of the steps here are a repeat of the Black Spider step by step. Please refer to it for more details...  http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4493.0
Before we start we?ll have a look at the hackle and the wax.

First the hackle. The hackle for the Greenwells spider is called the Greenwells or Furnace hackle. It has a dark red game colouration with a black centre. I don?t have a Greenwells/Furnace cape, decent ones are rare. I do though have an alternative cape that is often used for tying the Greenwells, it?s a Coch-y-Bonddu. The Coch-y-Bonddu is similar to the Greenwells, the only difference is it has black tips to the hackle as well as the black centre. If you don?t have either you can still tie this fly, just use a red game hackle.
This is a Cock-y-Bonddu hackle.



Now the wax. The wax used in conjunction with the Yellow silk to give the correct colour for the Greenwells is cobblers wax. Cobblers wax looks black, but if you look closely you will see it is actually a dark brown. To use the wax you need to warm it, to do this simply work it in your hand until it starts to feel slightly malleable. Once it is ready, quickly draw the thread across the wax whilst pressing down with your thumb. Do this two or three times and you?re ready to go.




STEP 1
              Attach the thread, tie in the hackle then continue wrapping the thread down the hook shank. Catch the gold wire in under the hook shank as you go.



STEP 2
              Wrap the thread to a point opposite the barb, then back up to a point roughly two turns before the hackle.




STEP 3
             Wind the rib in open turns to where you parked the thread. Then holding it in the position shown take two of thread over it, but do not cut it off.



Instead hold it up and rotate it until it breaks. If you cut it you will be left with an annoying tag.



STEP 4
             Wind the hackle, tie off and wrap the thread through the hackle.



STEP 5
           Sweep the fibres back and form the head. Remember, wrap up to, but not over the hackle.



Then whip finish for the completed fly.

[Wildfisher]

Excellent Dennis. New tiers should consider trying   this dynamic duo of the Black and Greenwell spiders. Dead easy to tie flies that work. I have lost count of the vast number of bandies I have caught on these! 

[Fishtales]

When I began tying flies some thirty years ago I was given a piece of bees wax by Rob Wilson up in Brora. It is still in use although I have since bought some new pieces. I have never had any trouble with dubbing and when I have tried to remove a dressing from an old fly using a razor blade I have still had to peel the thread off the hook it was stuck that much. Even when I have forgotten to varnish the head of a fly it seldom comes loose and, after doing the whip finish I run my fingers round the head and the wax forms a coating like polish I haven't used it for holding gut eyes as I have never tried to tie salmon flies other than on eyed hooks so I can't comment on that, but i have never found it lacking in adhesiveness as you say Mike. It does turn thr primrose silk a nice olive colour as you say though I always thought that the cobbler's wax referred to was bees wax. I know the waterproofing I use for my hiking boots has bees wax in it and it is tacky after it hardens, it melts on the warmed leather as you rub it in with your fingers, till it is polished.

[scotfly]

Dennis, I've ususally found just pulling it through the wax really quickly causes enough friction to have the desired effect.  Never really had any problems with it breaking or weakening the thread doing this.
Just as an aside why not use olive coloured thread and save on the waxing bit or is the tradition part of tying a classic flee your preference.

Cheers

Ardbeg

P.S I use cobblers wax and primrose thread, not olive thread too.

I've always found you get a better waxing (oooer  :shock:) if you soften it first.
I use yellow silk and cobblers wax partly for tradition and partly because I haven't found the shade required/desired available commercially.

[Wildfisher]

Dennis, when I was a lad my grandfather gave me a bit of cobblers wax- very  dark and I used it with the yellow silk for greenwells. Alas that is long lost so I now just use olive thread which is not exactly the same but it works OK. (also good if you are a lazy bugger like me  )

[greenwell]

Greenwells spider is one of my top patterns for the WoL, tied on heavy guage hooks in sizes 14/16. I also use olive tying silk for the body as I have found it outfishes the waxed primrose yellow silk by a long way. Usually with two other spiders or, if fish are rising,  on a dropper 2' 6" from a dry fly on the tail.

                            No' long now, eh?

                                                      Greenwell

[greenwell]

Hello Col,
            never thought about flexi floss for the G.S. body but might give that a birl. Do you still include the rib or leave it out? I imagine leaving it out would maintain the segmented effect of the flexi floss better.

  Greenwell