Along came a spider (collection)

[Ian]

[Iasgair]

Sorry, I have arachnophobia. I'd just squish them.

Those are great flies, and so easy to tie. I sometimes wonder if spiders would be a good start for beginner fly tyers. Here in America it seems beginner tyers start with midges like Black Beauty or the Zebra Midge. Just as easy to tie, but in my humble opinion midges lack character, though they do catch fish.

[Liphook]

I started out with tying the humble wet spider. Its a good way to learn the basics of thread control, hackling etc and of course results in a very useful series of flies that catch fish

[Ian]

Yes I would agree that beginners should start with spider patterns. They are easy to tie and the basis of most dry and wet fly patterns.

Ian