Greenwell Spider

[Magnus Angus]

Simple version of a Greenwell Spider. This uses brown olive thread rather than yellow silk thread tinted with cobblers wax. This is a very simple little fly to tie and makes a brilliant fishing fly. Tie this sparse so it stays near the surface.

Tight Lines!


Greenwell Spider
Hook: Size 12 to 16 down-eye dry or light-weight wet fly hook.
Thread: Brown olive.
Rib: Fine gold wire.
Hackle: Furnace hen (greenwell hen)


Hook in the vice, this is a Partridge CSSD size 12.



Catch on the thread and wrap touching turns for the length of the shank.



Catch in a length of fine gold wire. This is Lagartun fine wire. Try and keep the wire straight and under the hook-shank.


Wrap the thread in touching turns to an eye-width behind the hook eye. I like to thicken the body a little by wrapping the thread to the bend and back again.



Rib the body in open even turns. Break away the waste wire.



Select a furnace hen hackle. The barbs should be longer than the gape of the hook. (Use ginger or red game hen if you have no furnace.)



Clean off the fibres at the base of the hackle. Mount the hackle across the shank and tie in with criss-crossing wraps. Trim the hackle butt.



Wrap two or three full turns of hackle. Think of these as legs - so tie this fly sparse. Tie down the hackle and trim the tip.


Whip-finish and seal the head with a drop of varnish.



Finished Greenwell Spiders, #12 and #14.



Two genetic greenwell capes with a good Indian cape - these are all furnace capes and all make nice flies.

[Mike Barrio]

Nice one Magnus, what a great little fly that is!

I've always felt confident when fishing the Greenwells and they've caught me countless fish.

Not tried a brown version, must give it a go 

[Magnus Angus]

Looks browner in the pics than it is in real life Mike. That's Danville's brown olive thread.

[James Laraway]

very nice tying and step by step.
May i ask how to you get your photos so clear ? Do you use a phone or a proper camera ?

[Magnus Angus]

Hi James

I use a Nikon D810 and Micro Nikkor 105mm lens, two old studio flash heads to light the vice.

These are cropped pics, I can get the same from a Nikon DX sensor if that means anything to you.

I know Allan Liddle is getting some good results from a phone....I barely have a mobile phone

Magnus

[Robert MacDonald-Lewis]

Great step by step.

I have a soft spot for this fly. Caught my first good river fish on one, a 2(ish) lb trout from the Teviot just outside Kelso.

[Bob Mitchell]

I still use it along with the black spider/partridge and orange/ blae and black and a few others. That is going back well over 70 years,
Thanks for showing the tying. Brings back many happy memories.
Bob.