Sparse Dry Spiders

[Rabmax]

Certainly a slim body which goes back to about the start of the barb. I use two different hackles on the flies, about two turns of both on each fly.

http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=15590.0

Mac

I am by no means an expert but the old timers i knew would say 4 turns of hackle would be better in faster water.1 1/2 -2 turns would be better in slower water & picky fish.His favourite fly he used fishing the Clyde was a Grizzle with yellow thread.Grizzle & yellows my favourite too but also with a medium & dark olive body.But looking at that lovely trout you posted you ain't doing that bad are you  :lol:. Cheers

[Highlander]

In late on this one but to me
A spider: is a hackled wet fly, generally tied sparse but not in every case.
A hacked dry: is a fly designed primarily to float, but again with no wing.

A Dry Spider is just a play on the name. With today's modern floatants one could float a bare hook if one wished.

One thing that holds true though A Spider never has a wing despite winged flies being misplaced in other peoples sales sites.
Tight Lines

[Black-Don]

I've been doing some googling on this subject as the term Dry Spider is a new one on me but here's some of what I've learned.

According to the " Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide " page 116 :-

" Spiders are dry flies with very long, stiff bushy hackles and tiny hooks. They are usually tied on a size 14 to 16 hook with hackles the size of a silver dollar and most often without bodies or tails. Spiders are fished with manipulation by the angler " skated "across the water. They are an interesting option when no other fly will work but often result in short strikes or the fish refusing the fly at the last minute. Some fly fishers use spiders to locate large fish, returning later with more conventional flies. "

I also found this you tube video of a pattern which was passed on by a chap who Fred may know called Johnny Walker who was / has been a fisherman on the Don for over forty years and swears by dry spiders.

http://www.theworldwidefishingclub.com/videos/311/102/dry-fly-the-spider-dry-spider

dry spider.MP4

So it seems there is more to Dry Spiders than meets the eye and it seems as though this is a discussion where everyone may be right.

Except North Country Angler, that is, who's got a photo of a Greenwells Glory Upwing Dry listed on his website as a North Country Spider.   :roll:  :makefun

[Highlander]

Spiders are dry flies with very long, stiff bushy hackles and tiny hooks.

You have to remember this is American terminology & believe you me it gets "lost in translation"
for many UK fly & fishing types.

[Traditionalist]

I've been doing some googling on this subject as the term Dry Spider is a new one on me but here's some of what I've learned.

According to the " Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide " page 116 :-

" Spiders are dry flies with very long, stiff bushy hackles and tiny hooks. They are usually tied on a size 14 to 16 hook with hackles the size of a silver dollar and most often without bodies or tails. Spiders are fished with manipulation by the angler " skated "across the water. They are an interesting option when no other fly will work but often result in short strikes or the fish refusing the fly at the last minute. Some fly fishers use spiders to locate large fish, returning later with more conventional flies. "

Those are Hewitt's spiders.  Some info here;

http://www.flytyer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2992&Itemid=90

http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=49895

http://www.sparsegreymatter.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=491

TL
MC

[Malcolm]

it's easy for us to think that people from 50 years ago didn't put a dab of mucilin on their lightly dressed flies. I mentioned earlier that the lightly dressed spider flies with seals fur bodies were shown to me by a Wiltshire water bailiff in the mid 80s. However he had been using these lightly dressed flies for a long time. He was in his 50s then. I still keep in touch with him so I'll ask him where he got them from.

By the way I posted up on here a couple of years ago a spider variant which had a wing protruding in a straight line from the body - and as long as the body, before the hackle is tied in. It's a dressing I picked up in Farlows around 1981 - I remember Alex saying it was similar to a quigley cripple.

[Fishtales]

I have a copy of 'Border River Angling' by W. H. Lawrie published 1939.

He is talking about dry fly fishing.

'"Spiders" dressed with a stiff steely hackle on a short-shank hook are preferred to winged patterns."

As in all things the way we talk and describe things changes over time and the use of language is always in a flux. There are loads of words in use these days that seem strange to me as they are not used in the context that I remember them. Those people brought up in the modern usage don't find them strange and use them naturally and without a second thought. Etymology is as difficult as Entomology as things change and get re-classified

[Black-Don]

Those are Hewitt's spiders.  Some info here;

http://www.flytyer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2992&Itemid=90

TL
MC

Dry " Spiders " as per the link

You have to remember this is American terminology & believe you me it gets "lost in translation"
for many UK fly & fishing types.

I think something has defintely got lost, in the Mid Atlantic drift, of translation somewhere there Highlander  :shock:  

I have a copy of 'Border River Angling' by W. H. Lawrie published 1939.

He is talking about dry fly fishing.

'"Spiders" dressed with a stiff steely hackle on a short-shank hook are preferred to winged patterns."



As in all things the way we talk and describe things changes over time and the use of language is always in a flux. There are loads of words in use these days that seem strange to me as they are not used in the context that I remember them. Those people brought up in the modern usage don't find them strange and use them naturally and without a second thought. Etymology is as difficult as Entomology as things change and get re-classified

You'd get a job as a Philadelphia lawyer Sandy, that's like putting Alpha and Beta together to close an argument with Omega   :lol:  

[Buanán]

I also found this you tube video of a pattern which was passed on by a chap who Fred may know called Johnny Walker who was / has been a fisherman on the Don for over forty years and swears by dry spiders.

http://www.theworldwidefishingclub.com/videos/311/102/dry-fly-the-spider-dry-spider

dry spider.MP4

I think I'll be tying a few of these fellows Donald, thanks for posting....