Hi,

I've just sat down and tied up a spider. This one, again from Pritt's 1880s selection, is his Greentail, #33 on his list. It's common name is Grannom Fly, apparently a caddis (Sylvester Nemes indicates it is of the order Trichoptera.

The pattern is:
Hackle: Hackled with a feather from the inside of a woodcock's wing, or from a partridge's neck, or from under a hen pheasant's wing
Body: lead coloured silk twisted with a little fur from a hare's face
tail: green silk wrapped over the rear of the body

and here's the fly (clickable)


I actually stripped one side of the hen pheasant wing feather for this one, and it creates a nice sparse hackle (9 fibres, which I believe is only one more than the recommended 8! ha!). I also used dark grey possum instead of hare's mask.

Regardless, I really like this pattern. I've tied it up a number of times. Pritt, however, does indicate that "It is not always to be relied on as a killer, although, now and then, trout will make a dead set on it, and take nothing else. It kills best on morning and evenings, on warm days."

I've never caught anything on this pattern. I have a number in my fly box, and, as I say, I just tied another one. I don't know why I like this pattern, but I do. Perhaps stripping one side of the feather will help?

- Jeff