Overall, I would say that a pearly spider has caught me more fish on stocked stillwaters than any other spider pattern.
I tie it on B175s in sizes 12 to 16, black 12/0 thread, opal mirage tinsel over black thread, XS silver Ultra Wire rib and about 3 turns of magpie scalp feather for hackle. I tend to fish this pattern like a buzzer on a floating line with a very slow retrieve, longish pulls and let it sink again with takes usually coming when retrieving
Next most successful would be a GRHE spider or a hare & plover I fish these differently depending upon what is on the water.
I have also have excellent results with a glo brite pink spider hackled with a turn of med dun hen hackle and a rib of stretched opal mirage tinsel a fly I tied for grayling, sometimes works and sometimes totally ignored when it works it is lethal.
On wild waters black or claret pennells waterhen bloas, hare & plover, partridge & orange infact anything that works well on the river does well on calmer days although I would usually fish slightly larger sizes.
Cheers
Ben
