One of my top 3 favorite flies of all-time for trout fishing with a spey rod - the White Widow

When looking to develop an effective and very “cast-able” fly for trout spey, I made a conscious decision to use as few light-weight materials as possible while still producing a fly that has a bigger profile and great movement.

Utilizing only polar chenille, teal flank (or mallard flank), marabou, grizzly hackles, grizzly soft hackle and a traditional intruder shank and trailer hook, I found the perfect recipe for making an ideal trout spey fly for skagit casting.

MATERIALS FOR DAVE'S WHITE WIDOW FLY:

Hook Shank: Umpqua 25 mm Waddington Shank

Trailer Material: Senyo's Intruder Wire for Hooks Larger Than Size 6

Trailer Hook: Owner Mosquito Side Drifting Hook Size #4 (Barb Removed)

Thread: Uni 6/0 Black

Rear Body Material: Hareline Dubbin UV Polar Chenile Copper

First Hackle: Wapsi Barred Mallard Flank Natural

Main Body: Creative Angler Spey Blood Quill Marabou Apricot

Wings: Grizzly Hackle Natural

Head: Spirit River Soft Grizzly Hackle Tan

Head Cement: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails

As a bonus, I have included an easy fly tying hack to help utilize the often discarded marabou at the bottom of a thick stem (see video below). Often times, we throw away some excellent (and might I add, fishy) materials. Hopefully you can get the most out of your materials and tie more than one fly from a single marabou feather.

The White Widow can be tied in a variety of colors and many of the materials can be substituted. The key to this fly and the key to making very cast-friendly flies is to use a formula similar to this fly recipe.

Thank you so much for checking out our guide business, flies and approach to the sport of fly fishing!

-Dave and Jackie- Cooper Landing Fishing Guide, LLC