Keeping the tradition alive.

 "first there is the spare body, dressed with tying silk only, with or without wire ribbing, or lightly dubbed with soft fur.....then a small and lightly dressed soft hackle, two turns at the outside....."    
                           G.E.M. Skues

I must admit that I have developed a great enthusiasm for these flies .... called North Country Spiders. The fly box with spiders has got its own special pocket in my fly fishing vest next to the pocket with the box containing comparaduns and parachute flies. These North Country flies' simplicity has probably led many modern fly tiers and fly fishermen to ignore them in favour of more complex patterns that look more like the real thing - seen by human eyes. The long soft hackle representing both wings and legs on an insect, the sparse dressed body, not to mention the historical aspect of these flies with a Background of several hundred years was very fascinating to me.

So since I would like to tie these flies as close the original pattern as possible, the hunt for the right materials could begin. The tread used in many of this flies was Pearsall's silk, the same I use in winding the guides on my bamboo flyrods. The problem was the different kinds of game skins, from birds such as..... Snipe, Waterhen, Grouse and Magpie among others, stuff that my local fly tying shops did not have....luckily there's something called internet, so after some checking around I found Steve at Cookshill Flytying  who sold some lovely game skins from the birds I was looking for. 
      

And with most of the materials in hand, I could continue my adventure with the North Country Spiders, reading old books, have a sip of whiskey while I tie spiders and plan how to fish that perfect riffle I know of.