a Silver Spider variant
One of my favourite all time patterns is the humble Black Spider. Amongst other things, it caught me my first ever brown trout. The pattern has also spawned plenty of variants. The Silver and Blue soft hackle wet fly gives the Silver Spider version a slight twist. A twist of teal blue grizzle hen hackle in fact.
And that is really all there is to it: a Silver Spider with a turn (or two if you prefer) of teal blue grizzle hen hackle. Create the body with silver tinsel, rib with fine silver wire, add a turn of the blue grizzle hen and finish off the fly with a collar hackle of black hen before whip-finishing the head of the fly.
I imagine the Silver and Blue soft hackle wet fly should fish reasonably well during a hatch of midges or when prospecting after midge feeding trout. I think this pattern may do quite well fished slowly, just below the surface. The silver body and flash of teal blue hackle, should give a good impression of the silvery, gassy appearance of a hatching chironomid. I tied the pattern slightly short on a #12 hook, making it appear more like a fully dressed #14 (depending on hook pattern of course) and it looks about the right size for the waters I tend to fish, at least to my eye anyway!
Silver and Blue – Body: silver tinsel Rib: silver wire Hackles: grizzle hen (teal blue) and black hen
