Daring Duffer Series - Herl Body Spider

[William Anderson]

The last of my current stash of Stefan soft-hackles. My computer had a complete meltdown - it's gone. Along with lots of recent material, but fortunately I had uploaded this last fly from Stefan, until there are more. I hope soon.

This is certainly one of the nicest I've seen. Beautifully done.



Stefan, you may have a more accurate name for this one.

w

[hankaye]

dub-ya, Howdy;

Sorry to hear of the melt-down ... hopefully you have everything backed-up
and will be able to get back in the full swing of things shortly.

dd (aka Stefan), Have you some history that goes with this fly or, perhaps,
one of it's predecessors???

hank

[Ron Eagle Elk]

That's just stunning. No other words come to mind to describe it. What is that hackle?

[Kelly L.]

That is a killer looking fly. I love how the orange just shows that peacock herl off. The hackle will provide movement. I can't see a fish turning it down.

[letumgo]

Gorgeous herl body. Deadly looking combination.

[Dwclapp]

Cant tell from the photo (doesnt look like it, but I could be wrong) but does it have a wire rib to reinforce the herl?

Love the little orange tag. That'll catch some attention.

Darin

[zen leecher]

I just tied this fly in four different methods before I found one I really, really liked.

with the herl and the orange silk twisted together (to reinforce the herl)
with the herl twisted as in a herl rope,
with the herl just wound over the shank
with the "waste" thread not clipped off and then wound over the herl to reinforce the herl.

The 4th version is the one I liked best.

Now to test them out and see which the fish prefer and which fly lasts the longest. Hopefully the longest lasting doesn't last the longest because it doesn't get bit.

[daringduffer]

W,

I have been off-line for a while due to change of ISP. I promised you a "best effort fly" and this was the result. Most of the other flies were tied in a session of "what if..?", rushing from one to the other. This one I tried to tie as well as I could. I now see there is room for improvement if perfection is the goal. I believe you can catch a fish or two, using it as is.
I want to thank you for help and encouragement sharing these flies. I hope you will catch a tree or a trunk with them. You picked a classy name for it.

Hook is Maruto D04 (same as Tiemco 103BL). It is also available made from stouter wire (D04 HW). Herl comes from some kind of bird, silk from some worm and hackle comes from my pet Iron Dun India Rooster. Bending the pelt and holding it up to the sky makes it irresistable to look through.

with the herl just wound over the shank
with the "waste" thread not clipped off and then wound over the herl to reinforce the herl.

I tied a couple of your no 3 and no 4. I believe this is no 3. Durability is not a priority for me when tying since I tie a lot more flies than I have the opportunity to fish. The invention of the eyed hook makes the changing of flies a lot easier nowadays. It was much more time-consuming when I was a boy...

REE, your comment is flattering. I'm blushing like a maiden.

I will have to stop now. I have a lot of catching up to do...

dd

[zen leecher]

W,
I tied a couple of your no 3 and no 4. I believe this is no 3. Durability is not a priority for me when tying since I tie a lot more flies than I have the opportunity to fish. The invention of the eyed hook makes the changing of flies a lot easier nowadays. It was much more time-consuming when I was a boy...
dd

Daring Duffer,

I have only been tying since after the invention of the eyed hook so know no other way.

The #3 method is the prettiest but the #4 is close and it has an orange rib to accent the peacock colors. I don't know what I worry about as most of my flies sit in a fly box.

Bill