The true clydeside spider is a real minimalist fly with no body at all just a thorax large enough to keep the hackle in an upright position. This hackle is tied in soft side forwards which puts the hackle curving over the eye of the hook. Modern tying uses a bit of bling in tying the small body with glittering threads, mylar etc. The resulting fly when viewed in the water and worked with the rod tip pulsates like a jelly fish and at each pulse the body winks a come on. Hook sizes are usually 16/12 with 14 the most used. Use only 2 turns of hackle at the most for best action and keep 2/3 of the hook shank bare.

I fish these on a short line upstream using not only a steady rod tip nod of 6 inches or so but also retrieve at a little above the speed of the current similar to the Leisenring Lift method. Results are excelent with some real smashing takes from good browns.