Spruce Spider

[UC Steve]

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First fished this one back in the mid-70's when my brother was working in West Yellowstone. Early Fall & he was spending a lot of his spare time fishing Duck Creek, just outside the park (Charles Brooks called it "a duck of a creek"). And it truly was. My brother said he'd met an "old man" from Pennsylvania while astream, & the man had given him the pattern, tied with red floss, & that's how my brother tied it. After catching a 9 pound brown at Duck Creek, my brother was so excited about the fishing that he called, insisting I come over from Eastern Washington & fish with him. I hesitated, it was a long way & I could only take one day off from work, which would give me a 3-day weekend to get it done. Not much time... So I'm thinking about it, & all of a sudden he shows up at my place, having driven all night from Montana. My brother was a 'trout bum' & drove a 'fishing car' long before Gierach coined the handles. So here he comes, rattling up in his rusted, overloaded Datsun B 210; the car making a funny noise. He talks me into going, I relent & stuff my gear into his rig. Off we went, my brother driving 100 miles an hour & chain-smoking reefers while, terrified, I hung on to the o-my-god bar over the door while watching the road zip under us through a fist-sized hole in the floor. Miraculously, we got there okay, & the fishing for huge pre-spawn brookies & browns was epic. I altered the pattern, substituting ruby 'C' rod-wrapping thread for the floss.

Hook: Old mystery #12
Thread: Wine Uni 8/0
Hackle: Furnace hen (or Greenwell)
Body: Ruby 'C' rod-wrapping thread, front 1/3 peacock herl

[tie2fish]

I very much like your variation on the Spruce, Steve, but the story about your trip to Montana with your stoner sibling is even better. Those were the carefree days, eh?

[letumgo]

Great storytelling, and fun introduction to the spruce softhackle. Smoking pattern.

Ive just gotta try this pattern. My kinda fly.

[UC Steve]

Bill, doesn't seem that long ago. Dragging my feet trying to slow this thing down brother.

Ray, if you have brookies & browns in the neighborhood, this is a worthwhile lure, particularly early Spring & Fall.

[Old Hat]

Well done Steve! I always like seeing patterns especially classic ones manipulated into different variations.

[UC Steve]

Well done Steve! I always like seeing patterns especially classic ones manipulated into different variations.

Carl, as you probably know, the classics lend themselves well to manipulation, as they possess proven killing elements that contributed to making them classics. Some of these might be boiled down into simple spiders. The fun challenge to the soft-hackler is determining which elements are extraneous & which are killing. A couple years ago Rod Zavaduc, a Canadian guide/fly shop owner, gave me some samples of the Spotted Sedge emerger he ties for the upper Columbia, a gorgeous, highly detailed soft-hackle. Fishing it, it proved to be the best I'd tried for meeting that important hatch. However, the dressing was so detailed the thing was like tying a classic Atlantic salmon fly in miniature -- no great candidate for a guide fly. So I messed with it, & eventually was able to identify its working elements to come up with a version that works just as well as the original but is much easier & quicker to tie. I should post that one here.

[Old Hat]

'd love to see it Steve.

You are exactly correct. It is a matter of selecting those triggers or elements that are most effective in the pattern and expressing those in the spider design. I have often found color, contrast, specific amounts of flash or lack of important considerations.

[redietz]

Great story! That fly looks like it would be a real "confidence" pattern.

[ronr]

UC Steve...being of similar vintage, your story resonates with me and it took me back to another life.

Oh, and your fly is awesome.

But, I have to ask, since we live on the same side of the country, do you actually live within the ghost town of Boundary, WA.? I'm sure there is another story there, so if I'm not being too nosy, I'd love to hear about it...

[UC Steve]

UC Steve...being of similar vintage, your story resonates with me and it took me back to another life.

Oh, and your fly is awesome.

But, I have to ask, since we live on the same side of the country, do you actually live within the ghost town of Boundary, WA.? I'm sure there is another story there, so if I'm not being too nosy, I'd love to hear about it...

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Ron, my wife & I have been the sole inhabitants since 1973. I came right out of school, to work as a silvaculturist for Boise Cascade in Kettle Falls. Within days of my arrival I found myself living beside the greatest native trout fishery in the lower '48, so stayed. Our cabin is the only building, & the old sign on the rail siding is the only evidence that Boundary is actually a 'place'. The name works on several levels.