Wolf Spider

Arachnophobes look away now. Despite their abundance, spiders go fairly unnoticed when we are out fishing, and this is echoed in the lack of patterns in our fly boxes. Other than on a calm spring morning when all the streamside vegetation is covered in gossamer from hatching spiderlings, or when we unexpectedly blunder into a giant web, their secretive nature belies the fact they are highly abundant.

Studies have estimate there may be half a million spiders per acre of land, more in wet tropical environments. Turnbull (Ecology of the true spiders – 1973) calculated an overall mean density of 131 spiders per square metre, based on assessments from many different areas of the globe. While many of these spiders will be tiny in size a percentage are the common ground dwelling species, colloquially known as wolf spiders.

As a potential prey item, take a moment to consider their abundance. Conservatively, even if only two percent are wolf spiders, then within 10 metres of the edge of every 200-metre stretch of stream there are potentially 10,000 trout-snack-sized spiders. Now spider patterns are starting to look like a more viable option…

The moist undergrowth near streams is the perfect habitat for spiders. Their bodies are particularly hydrophobic, which is an excellent adaption to foraging near and even on the water. Indeed many of the type-specimens used to describe wolf spiders from the Artoria family were collected from riparian gravel banks of small streams in southeastern Australia.

Steve’s Sparse Hackle Spider (FlyLife #94) nicely covers the smaller spiders, being designed for the springtime when spiderlings are hatching and are blown across the water as they disperse. To cover the slightly larger species this wolf spider pattern hails from South Africa. While not the first country you think of when it comes to trout, the streams in the mountainous regions of southern Africa have held healthy populations since their introduction in the 1880s. Leonard Flemming developed this fly after watching a trout leap clear of the water to grab a long-jawed spider that was hanging from its web in streamside vegetation.

Leonard initially tied two spider patterns, one mimicking the long-jawed spider and the other a wolf spider imitation. While both worked exceptionally well, his Wolf Spider has become a standard South African pattern and has continued to find success further abroad, excelling when trout are wary or selective.

To begin, select a wide gape hook (to help improve the hook-up rate) and lay a base of thread over the rear of the shank. Then strip 20 to 30 barbs from a partridge feather and tie them in by their tips at the rear of the hook. This is a good use for larger partridge feathers too big for soft hackle patterns.

Trim a strip of 2-mm foam approximately 5 mm wide and tie in over the rear third of the hook shank. Dub over lightly with hare’s ear then bring the foam forward over the hare’s ear and tie down firmly. Follow with the partridge barbs, spreading them out to evenly cover the foam and tie down firmly at the same point. Trim any excess and add a drop of head cement to secure, essentially creating a small foam beetle at the rear of the hook.

Add in a Hi-Vis post just forward of the halfway point on the shank. Fold the Hi-Vis around the shank and secure with cross wraps, then add a few wraps around the base as a foundation for wrapping the hackle on later. For the legs, select 8 pheasant tail barbs. Tie them in behind the post in pairs, two either side with one facing forward and one backwards. Take your time to get them neat and level on the sides or the finished fly will be unbalanced. For those anatomically correct tiers, Wolf Spider legs are approximately double their body length. Once you are happy with the positioning of the legs, cover the tie-in point with a little hare’s ear dubbing to neaten.

Next strip the bottom centimetre of both a grizzly and a brown hackle, then tie them in just forward of the Hi-Vis post. Holding both feathers together wind the stripped section up the post then wrap the unstripped section back down in touched turns to form a neat parachute hackle. Tie off securely in front of the post and trim the excess.

Finish off by forming a small head with more hare’s ear dubbing at the front of the shank and trimming the post to your preferred length. Then whip finish and secure with a drop of head cement. To simplify the pattern a little you can omit the partridge barbs over the foam. These are to replicate the mottled fuzzy appearance of the wolf spider’s abdomen, but appeal more to the tier than to the fish.

While Leonard’s pattern may appear somewhat delicate it stands up well to the rigours of small stream fishing. The attentions of fish and the inevitable run-in with streamside vegetation might make it a little scruffy around the edges, but as with many successful patterns this just seems to improve its effectiveness. Or is that just an angler’s confidence thing?

The upper Tooma River in southern New South Wales has what can only be described as a healthy population of very large wolf spiders. Our fishing group regularly observed them crossing the stream during the day. Chris Swadling and I watched one running across a pool as a fingerling trout tried in vain to grab it from below.

Wolf spiders are perhaps more than just an opportunistic meal for the trout. By their sheer numbers alone, spiders have earned a place in our stream repertoire — just try not to think of all the eyes watching as you tie one on.