Salt water spiders
The least dressed fly of all. The classic spider fly has to be one of the least dressed flies of all times. A slender body and a thin hackle - and that's it.
The least dressed fly of all
The classic spider fly has to be one of the least dressed flies of all times. A slender body and a thin hackle - and that's it.
It works in a stream so why shouldn't it work in the sea? My own fly The Umbrella is not that far from a spider, and that works. Even in very large sizes the spider has to be a dream to cast - light in all ways - and yet the soft hackle will have all the life you can want.
The appearence of this fly relies heavily on a nice, smooth tinsel body.
Hook | Size 2 Kamasan B840 |
Thread | Bennechi 0/12 |
Body | Flat silver or gold tinsel |
Rib | Oval silver or gold tinsel |
Hackle | Sparse front hackle from soft black hen |
Head | Small from dubbing thread |

Lightly dressed spider on a size 2 hook. Body is Super Floss, hackle is hen
Heavily dressed spider. 2 layers of super floss forms the body that is ribbed with silver tinsel. The hackle is one grizzly and one black hen feather.
Read more about why you should register.
More content from the front page
Since you got this far …
… I have a small favor to ask.
Long story short
Support the Global FlyFisher through several different channels, including PayPal.
Long story longer
The Global FlyFisher has been online since the mid-90's and has been free to access for everybody since day one – and will stay free for as long as I run it.
But that doesn't mean that it's free to run.
It costs money to drive a large site like this.
See more details about what you can do to help in this blog post.
Comments
I used some greenwel
I used some greenwell glory patterns basically a trout spider pattern in the surf in Northern Natal South Africa - I never thought they would work given its predominatly a freshwater pattern - I cast back into the swell from behind the surf and had very many fish. I'm definitely a spider convert.
i cant belive they l
i cant belive they look like hooks
I love your website.
I love your website.