Grayling Spiders - Traditional Spider Fly Patterns
Often used on droppers Spider fly patterns have been used for many years to catch the Queen of the River. Spider fishing, often referred to as North Country Spiders has been used for many years with famour patterns like Snipe and Purple and Partridge and Orange gracing many grayling fly fishermens fly boxes. Often called soft hackle flies these have been used for over 200 years. These patterns as designed to imitage aquatic insects, sometimes specific flies but often suggestive patterns often just giving the impression of emerging, stillbord or drowned flies.
The essence of a spider fly pattern for grayling is that they are little more than a fly both with only 1 or 2 turns of soft feather hackle. It is this soft hackle that prvides life like movement when buffeted by water.
