Swingin' Flies in the Pacific Northwest: Fly #42: Yellow Spider

Apr 16, 2009

Fly #42: Yellow Spider

I've been tying a lot of steelhead flies for the last so many months. It has been great fun, but while on the river last time fishing for trout, I realized that I'm running low on some of my "go to" soft hackle patterns.

In response, I've spent the last few evenings tying various trout flies. I've been concentrating on sparsely dressed spider patterns. These are meant to be fished right in the surface film, or just below.

Yellow Spider (size 12)

Body: Yellow thread, copper wire ribbing, hares ear dubbing
Collar/Hackle: Natural Partridge, stripped on one side

1 comment:

tonysalpenglow.blogsopt.com said...: hey Rick...
Went up to the Yuba yesterday, there were lots of little sallie stones everywhere, i bet if you tied some of those in a size 14 dry fly hook you'd knock'em out with a short line swing.
good hatch of March Browns, i was swinging soft hackles and landed 6 really nice ones and a 21 incher..
hope your well..
Alpen Glow; April 23, 2009 at 4:25 PM

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About Me

My interest in fly fishing began as a teenager in my home state of Missouri. After years of fishing rivers in and around the Ozarks, I moved to California in the early 90's. Life continued on, I happily drove hours around to various streams hunting trout. Then it happened. One rainy fall morning, I landed my first steelhead.

Game over. Buh bye trout. Hello steelhead!

Fast forward to 2011. My obsession with steelhead was out of control. I convinced my wife and family, that we needed to leave California and head to the Pacific Northwest.

Now, I'm able to happily fish for steelhead almost year around in both Washington and Oregon. My now home-water is a quick 10 minutes away. Within two hours, I can reach the Deschutes, Klickitat, Wilson, Sandy, Clackamas, Hood, Lewis, Cowlitz, Kalama, and dozens of others. Many of those are within a half hour. Paradise.

Although I started out with single handed rods all those years ago, I switched almost exclusively to 2-handed rods around 2005. I find them to be more efficient and less tiring over those long days. Initially reluctant to give them a try, I've rarely looked back.

This blog is my little spot on the internet to keep record of my trips, fly tying, and thoughts on fishing. Originally conceived as a personal journal to help myself remember where I went and what flies were productive- for whatever reason, I decided to make it public. Hopefully you will get something from it.