How To Make A Dry Fly “Spider”

The Foam Spider is one of the most popular surface flies ever created for catching Bluegills. It’s also known as a dry fly, because it floats on the surface. I use this bait 90% of the time for Bluegills and Crappies when using a fly rod and fishing the beds. The colors I prefer are; Green, Yellow, Brown, and Black.

Tools And Supplies Needed For Making Dry Flies

To build a dry fly (spider) you will need the following items; thread, rubber legs, foam rubber bodies, hooks, 5 minute epoxy, and a device to hold your hook for assembly.

Thread- I just took some black thread from my wife’s sewing box, but make sure it’s fairly strong and does not break easily. Otherwise you can pick it up in a Fabric store.

Rubber legs- You can buy this item at a Sports store, but I found a bait store that sells materials for building your own baits and paid 50 cents for a large roll, which will last for years. The color is up to you as there are many you can choose from.

Spider Legs

Rubber Body- The spider’s body is made of a soft foam/rubber. You can buy the body already cut at a sports store or you can purchase an entire sheet, 12″ x 18″ x 1/8″ thick, for $1 form Joann’s Fabric store. From this you can cut your own, they may not be as perfect looking, but the Bluegills will not care. Use sizes 10 & 12.

Hooks To Use For Making Dry Flies

You can use many different types of hooks, but some do not work as well for hooking the fish when assembled with this type of foam body. So I recommend using either the Kink Shank Hook, known as the popper hook or the DF1/DF3 Lightning Strike dry fly hook. Both are shown below! Sizes 10 and 12 work best.

Making a Spider

Video 2 on how to make your own Dry Fly Spider