Fly Tying - Wet Fly - Spider Samples

Here are some samples of my attempts at different variations of a spider wet fly.  I usually fish them with a slow, twitching retrieve either on moving or still water.  I have been very successful with these flies on Piru Creek for trout, and Castaic Lagoon for Bass.

Every fly pictured here is - I admit - poorly tied.  They were all intended to be better than they ended up, and as I progress with this pattern I will post a step-by-step tutorial.  For now, this is strictly an idea of a fly that can be wildly successful where there are spiders and/or caddis larva occurring naturally.

Fishing this fly: Cast and immediatly remove slack in line as this fly frequently gets hit shortly after hitting the water.  Allow it to sink (depth depends on conditions) while using two very short and quick strips - pause (I usually give about 2 or 3 seconds) and two more very short and quick strips.  I can't emphasize enough the need for short tugs and a slack pause.  The idea is to get the hackle (spider "legs") to collapse and flare, collapse and flare, giving it a life-like struggling spider appearence.  9 out of 10 strikes that occur on the retrieve will happen during the pause.

Important Note: When placing a bead in the middle of your pattern, like I did on some of these; don't wrap thread over the bead like I did.  Tie it off, cut and tie back in on the other side of the bead.  Having thread on the outside of the bead means that when (not if) it breaks, your fly will come undone at both ends.  Yep - learned that the hard way.

Dry and ready to be fished

Out of the water

This worked better after removing the tail

This one did quite well

Tungsten head to help it get down