There are few classic wet flies that I like to have in my fly box, particularly when I’m fishing some of the fabled waters of Yellowstone National Park. If I were to open my fly box, buried somewhere in the store room under all holiday detritus that has built up since I last visited the park, you’d find patterns with names like Horberg and Rio Grande King.
You wouldn’t find any Leisenring spiders. At least not yet. But after watching the short video above from Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions, this pattern is definitely on the “to do” list for summer fishing in the park.
For some reason, it just screams “Firehole!” to me. It’s got the Hungarian partridge soft hackle, the fuzzy, dubbed hare’s mask body and a handsome twist of wire … the Firehole is a wet-fly angler’s paradise, and the Leisenring Spider would be right at home swinging through its riffles.
Also, it looks like a quick tie at the vise—something I could do in the camper over a cocktail the evening before I hit the water.
This wet fly, like most of its brethren, is meant to be fished on the swing, where it might imitate anything from an emerging caddis to a small baitfish. If you’re a wet-fly swinger like me, this fly is worth a look.