Fly Of The Week-The Reversed Spider-Aug. 8, 2006

[Donald Nicolson]

It is a great looking fly, I am going to tie some up as sea-trout flies (sea-run browns), but as usual the idea of the reverse hackle is not new.
Anglers in the Alpine districts of Italy and France were tying their own versions over two hundred years ago.
Here is one I tied a few years ago, I never really got the chance to test it out properly, they were tied for use on fast running mountain streams.




for more info have a look at
http://www.dtnicolson.dial.pipex.com
Go to "Alpine Spiders" on the index page, there are four pages.

There are a lot of modern Italian versions by Walter Bartellini shown on the pages as well as the three I tied. He used modern nylon thread, I prefer Pearsalls silk myself. They were taken from W. H. Lawries book on International Trout Flies.

[Jeremy]

This is a rather interesting concept, this reverse hackling.

Reminds me of some of my muskie bucktail spinners that employ this same principle. The hackle (Bucktail hair on muskie baits) flairs as you retrieve....It does have merit!

Jeremy.

[WarrenP]

Jeff,

Have you tried any regular soft hackle feathers? I have not, as of yet, for fear that the hackle would be too soft and the reverse collar would not flair out and would just fall back against the body like a regular wet fly collar. I like the sound of your fly and will probably work on something similiar tonight at home. Of course, I may have to go to the river, after work today, and try out my weighted version!! Where would I be without fly tying and fly fishing!!! I would probably own one of those white jackets that have no sleeves!!

[JeffHamm]

Hi WarrenP,

The partridge feather I used was oversized, but otherwise a normal soft hackle feather. I've only tied up the one so far, so if you mean normal sized, I've not tried that. However, Donald' s Olive and Starling uses what appears to be a standard sized hackle feather, and starling is a common feather in the traditional spider patterns, and his looks great as usual. I found there was no problem getting the large feather to flare properly when it was tied in reversed style, and I don't expect any difference with a more standard sized version.

On the other hand, I've not fished it yet, so if you are worried that the soft hackle will "fall back" and not "wiggle", I can't say for sure. However, if that were a big problem, then standard spiders would just end up as "coloured shanked hooks with some wet feather pasted along them". When I'm fishing, I'll examine a fly while it's underwater to see what it looks like. When they are submerged, flies often "puff out" and look much fatter and fuller than when you remove them and they collapse. Squirrel tail wings are a prime example of this, as is the hackle feather on soft hackles. Of course, I can only examine them in still water, but I would think in faster water the hackles wiggle quite nicely. The reverse hackle, I suspect, will work great in still water as the retrieve will impart the motion (tug, pause, tug, tug, pause, etc), and in faster riffles, well, I think the hackle will just flop around no matter which way it's tied in.

- Jeff

[WarrenP]

Jeff,

You are probably right. I am going to tie some up tonight using the regular hen back soft hackle and will put them to the test on Thursday evening after work unless something comes up and I cannot go. This past weekend I fished with a good friend of mine who guides and they were impressed with the Reversed Spider and they are going to tie some up on a #14 and they will let me know how it worked out. Thanks for getting back to me and have a great week and weekend.

[JeffHamm]

Hi WarrenP,

I probably won't get a chance to try mine out for a while yet, so I would really like to hear how they work out for you and your friend the guide. The article on them was with respect to sea run cut-throats and in, what I understood to be, still waters (lake edges, etc). I would be surprised if they didn't work well for rainbows and browns in the rivers though. They just look very fishy to me.

- Jeff