Any you tie a spider?

Saw lots of these on waters edge today.

Spinner…

My dearest friend ties spiders.

Makes the abdomen with a combination of scotch tape and dubbing. The dubbing/ wool gives the bulk, and the scotch tape around it forms a ‘ball’, and gives the whole thing some sheen.
He makes monofilament eyes, and attaches some black legs…and that’s it.

The only time it’s worked for him, is during midday fishing for trout when they’re all hiding out of the sun.
We just came back from the Ausable in NY. It was midday.There were stonefly shucks all around and plenty of flies but nothing was really biting any of 'em.
I TOO saw spiders and thought about using his pattern but didn’t have it in my box (wouldn’t you know!).

HOWEVER…HE, thought about using it, and did. Caught a nice rainbow which was hiding under a bank. I believe he was dabbing it on the water…not dead drift or any of that, just dabbing.

It was a bit windy and he thinks ( as do many others) THAT’s the time to use terrestrials because the wind knocks them out of trees and bushes. I also think that because it’s midday, if they’re going to go for anything, it’s got to be something worthwhile. The rubber legs and their movement is something I do think entices them.

Another pattern which they seem to go for during that time has been the UFO: a foam pattern with crystal flash. Looks a lot like a beetle. You should be able to get that pattern off the net somewhere.
A Turk’s Tarantula has also worked for me. It’s basically a muddler minnow with legs. You can find that too off the net.

I know I’LL be making sure I have terrestrials in my box. It’s not a bad idea for anybody else.

Experiment and try it out. I think it’ll surprise you too. And like my friend does, try experimenting tying your own patterns.

Take care,
Bad Luck Larry

Hmmm,

Not sure of the size of it, but if a size 12 or 14 would make for “the right size” then I would use grey tying thread, dub the abdomen with a mix of black and yellow wool, the legs would be woodcock soft hackle to get the red/black barring, and a shell back over the top of the legs would be a slip from a grey mallard quill (whole thing tied as in John’s spider spider in the FOTW archives).

I would not photograph it anywhere near as well as this one though! :grin:

  • Jeff