fishing north country spiders

[Irv]

I've been fly fishing for a couple of years and it seems as time goes by I am increasingly weighted down by gear that I' taking to the stream. Now that I'm gainfully unemployed - retired - I've made a pledge to simplify my fishing, and to that end have become increasingly attracted to north country spiders. They're elegantly simple and carry a storied reputation. They also fit the bill regarding my wish to simplify my fishing. When I've discussed my goals with folks whose business is fishing - shop owners, guides, etc., I get a rather luke warm response - like "they're ok in their place, i.e., under very specific cricumstances, and on specific types of water." I'd appreciate any help y'all can offer regarding the exclusive use of north country spiders. Specifically, I'm interested in knowing whether I can successfully fish spiders on south central PA streams (Falling Springs, Big Springs, Letort) and on north central PA freestones (Slate Run, Cedar Run, etc). I live in central Virginia and regularly fish streams such as Mossy Creek, the Jackson River, Back Creek; but I do strive to get up to my native state of Pennsylvania at least a couple of times a year. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance - Irv

 

[shortrod]

>>Specifically, I'm interested in knowing whether I can successfully
>> fish spiders on south central PA streams (Falling Springs,
>> Big Springs, Letort)

I am by no means an expert on fishing north country spiders or any style of wet fly. I believe you could be very successful with spiders during caddis and mayfly hatches. I think you could have fair success using a spider style fly as a terrestrial imitation, but I can't see a spider style working as midge larva, sowbug, scud, or sculpin. Only you can determine if you can live without imitations of the above.

 

[pcray1231]

First, a "north country spider" is another name for a soft hackled wet fly, no? It's not a name that is common around these parts.

In an essence, no, I do not think you could be consistently successful with only wet flies. That said, yes, they will be successful at times. In fact, soft hackled wets are probably underused by fly fishermen in this state.

In my experiences, they work very well for caddis hatches. For everything else, not so much. None of the streams you mentioned are overly famous for caddis.

Although I have had success using wets in really heavy riffs during certain mayfly hatches, as the naturals are being drowned.

 

[osprey]

Are you talking about wet or dry flies ? The only "spider" imitations i'm familiar with are dry flies , such as the "Neversink" type of skating spiders. I can attest to the fact that they work and would think they would work anywhere there are spiders. The most productive experience i've had with these has been on stillwater when there are spiders migrating , they call it ballooning , when THIS is happening they are deadly.

 

[pcray1231]

I don't believe the North Country Spider is a spider imitation at all. I've never heard the term here in the states. But when I was in Ireland, I visited a shop or two, and this was their name for a specific style of wet fly, just like we have "catskill", "comparadun", etc. styles for dries.

Thread body, no tail, sparse soft hackle.

 

[Fishidiot]

Irv,
Congrats on retirement and welcome to PAFF.

As the others have said, we're not sure of what type fly you're referring to. Like Osprey, I too think of spiders as high floating dries designed to "skate." Whatever the case, wet or dry, you're unlikely to be consistently successful on the listed waters with such specialty stuff. On the other hand, it might make for an interesting experiment to try such flies for a season. Some folks limit themselves only to dry flies and still get great enjoyment out of the sport of fly fishing. I suppose you could give it a try for a few trips and if the concept continues to intrigue you....then by all means continue with it.

 

[gfen]

thread body, two turns of soft hackle. up stream presentation. think classic skues and english chalk streams.

you'll be fine. euronymphing is just repackaged spider fishing with more lead.

fish don't have fingers despite the grocery's frozen aisle. only one way to find out if its food or not, and thats put it in its mouth.

 

[Irv]

Apologies for the confusion. "North country spider" is also referred to as a "soft hackle" fly. The American guru - the late Sylvester Nemes - held to a position that soft hackles//spiders fished wet are all the flies one needs. I'm not entirely convinced that it's that simple. I'll take the advice of one of the responders and concentrate on soft hackles fished wet for as much of this season as my patience allows and see how I like it. The great fun and joy of it all is learning and juts being out there.

 

[blueheron]

You can use North country spiders anywhere you want and catch fish. Yes guys it is a soft hackled fly that imitates nymphs in different stages of development depending on the presentation . My confidence fly is a soft hackle and I use it in every water in every state I've ever fished. It can be fished wet dry or in between, in the film or bounced off the bottom. The fly is really not as critical as the presentation but in reading your last sentence I see you have figured out the key aspect of any pastime.

 

[gentleshepherd]

Tenkara Flies look a lot like North Country Spiders. You could also check out www.flymphforum.com some of the best looking spiders I have ever seen were on that site.

Also, go to Tenkarausa.com and check out the fly forum, you will be very much surprised to see flies very similar and extremely simple to tie with basic materials.

 

[barbless]

I'm a soft hackle fan. Because they work best when unweighted, and it's often important to get them down a bit in the water column, I often like using them with a short (like 5') sink tip line with a short leader that's mostly tippet.

I haven't tried this, but I once read about a guy who liked using this method on the LeTort: #22 gold tinsel body grizzly or black soft hackle, dropped maybe 15" under a #20 cork body terrestrial dry fly.

Big help on the LeTort to have flies land gently on that water, where a #16 bead head nymph goes in like a cannonball.

I was at the upper LeTort a couple of weeks ago. Was that water ever low and clear. The Marinaro's meadow beat was part mud flat. No, I did not catch anything.

 

[Irv]

Had a look at flymph forum - spectacular flies! I especially like their simplicity and elegance. While I haven't gotten around to Tenkara yet -it certainly appears that given the centuries that the Japanese have fished these "soft hackle" style of flies and the five centuries plus of European anglers fishing very simple soft hackles - there's quite a lot to be said for this style fly and the manner in which they're fished. While I will always carry and fish the inimitable Green Weenie (I am a Pennsylvanian, after all) I look forward to annoying many trout with soft hackles!

 

[DGC]

They are very old flies, but around the turn of the 20th century a few UK anglers started cataloging the flies. Pritt wrote Yorkshire Flies, which I believe then became re-titled as North Country Flies.

Anyway, Pritt was talking about the spate streams (rocky freestones) of the north country. On the southern chalk streams that are similar to our SC PA spring creeks, the dry fly was king and in many instances required.

If I was to suggest a translation of a north country pattern to fishing our local waters now, it would perhaps be a partridge and orange (as a drowned sulphur spinner impression) tied as a dropper off the eye or bend of a parachute sulphur or sulphur spinner. That's just one example.

 

[redietz]

I fish North Country spiders almost exclusively, and yes they do take fish in places like the Falling Springs, Big Springs and the Letort as well as in free stones streams.

Of course, fly shop owners are going to be indifferent about them; they want to sell flies, and aren't going to sell many like a Partridge and Orange. Who's going to shell out $2 for a fly that anyone can tie in minute or so?

They work year round, and can be fished from top to bottom - use floatant or shot as needed. They're at their best, though, when the fish are feeding in the top six inches of the water column.

I encounter very few circumstances in which I can't catch trout on some sort of a North Country spider/soft hackle.

Right now, during the sulfur hatch, as mentioned above, is a great time to use them. Try a partridge and yellow during the day and a partridge and orange during the evening -- or fish the two as a team. A pheasant tail soft hackle works wonders as a sulfur nymph, and if you add a dubbed yellow thorax, even better as an emerger.

Use them with confidence. They do indeed catch fish.

 

[LongLineRelease]

I fish spiders/soft hackles a lot. And old timers always refered to them as spiders i.e. march brown spider, brassy spider, starling spider, etc. Call him what you want, these flies can be fished all the time and are probably the most versatile of all fly patterns. Beadhead on the bottom, swung downstream, greased on top as a dry, whatever works. I once fished softhackles all summer long with success.

 

[spod]

Hello from Australia,

I became interested in North Country Spiders about a year or so ago. In OZ they get called soft hackle wets and they aren't that easy to find. I like using traditional wet flies and the North Country Spiders fall into this category. They may look very simple but I've found that they are very effective. I fish them down and across and on a short line cast upstream, rarely more than a rods length. Also drifted straight downstream into a likely looking spot works too. I've also had a similar luke warm to almost patronising response when I've asked about these flies at fly shops. This style of fishing may not be "matching the hatch" but if a trout is hungry, a likely edible looking fly floated by his nose is likely to tempt him.
I dont have a large selection of North Country Spiders but the Bibio hopper is a favourite of mine. The orange tail helps me to see it better. Another fly I fish alot is the Claret Dabbler. This is more of a Scottish Loch style fly but drifted downstream to a snag and twitched slowly upstream it has worked many times for me.
There's most likely fly shops in the US where you could buy this style of fly but there is a UK based fly shop called The English Fly Shop that has them. Their site also has some tips for fishing them.
If you Google North Country Spiders, a fair bit of info comes up.
So far as simplifying flies, I sometimes just take out my small selection of spiders and find that's all I need. Sometimes it's not the fly that matters but how you fish it.
Give the North Country Spiders/ Soft Hackles a go--you'll have fun with them.
Cheers,
Steve.