North Country Spiders soft hackled flies

Firstly apologies for the lack of posts of late.  I have been concentrating on fishing and havent had the time to write about it.  As you may know this year has seen me fishing the Ure, a river that has required me to try spider fishing for the first time in earnest.  Although I have fly fished Northern rivers for 40 years the rivers and becks I have fished require dry fly and the upstream nymph.  The tumbling runs that make the soft hackled flies come to life barely exist in the becks and rivers of the vale of York.

I have read and read again Stewarts Practical angler and Edmonds and Lee.  Patterns have been tied and Sunday saw my first excursion to the river.  In addition to the above books I have watched the DVDs by Ollie Edwards and John Tyzack,  My first team of three was top dropper the Partridge and orange dressed with a the tinsel rib then a waterhen bloa and on the point an Endrick spider tied with a bead head as per John Tyzack.  Now I had watched the DVDs and had seen the Escalator and the downstream and down and across methods watched the reach catch and the wet reach , using the upstream mend or not, surely fishing the spider is simple?.

My first approach in to the shallow water as I waded towards the deeper run.  As I drew back the slack line in preparation for the first cast in earnest a take!.  The tiniest of trout it must have been at least two ounces it had taken n water less than 12 inches deep.   In the first run  down the stream.  I had another three browns and 2 grayling all taking the waterhen bloa,  It is a lovely visual method watching the minicon at the end of the fly line.  It is not at all as I had once imagined a dreary cast and retrieve style.  Takes showed clearly in the tea stained water.

I shall now add to my armoury of patterns there seems to be an almost limitless number of patterns. I have supplemented my favourite book of fly dressing " River Trout flies" by John Roberts with a copy of " A guide to North Country flies" by the Rochadale cowboy himself Mike Harding and after a few suitable purchases of bits of snipe , partridge and woodcock I am suitably prepared and will give you updates on how I get on ......