Spiders and sea run cutthroat go together like bread and butter, wine and cheese, beer and a big bag of Cheetos. This fly is inspired by the many great spider type flies that came before it, from Al Knudsen's Spider, to Walt Johnson's Spectral Spider and of course, Mike Kinney's Reverse Hackle Spider. Yellow and orange are tried and true sea run cutthroat colors and a good pulsating mallard hackle is pretty irresistible to Joe Average cutthroat in the fall.
I've always been a fan of the Reverse Spider in terms of maximizing the movement in the hackle, but found is was kind of a pain to tie the mallard in reverse to face forward and get it to lay right. Using a watery consistency UV resin to train the hackle forward by reinforcing it at the base works pretty well and makes it a little easier to finish the fly. Just in case you're not super well-versed in comic book lore and are scratching your head about the fly's name, Peter Parker is Spider Man. Fish this guy on a floating line or with a poly leader around woody structure with quick, jerky strips and get ready for action. While yellow and orange remains my favorite combo, this fly in black or pink also works very well.
Peter Parker Cutty Spider Recipe:
Hook: #6 Gamakatsu B10S
Bead: 7/64" Gold Tungsten Bead
Thread: Fl. Orange 70 Denier Ultra Thread
Tail: Natural Golden Pheasant Tippet
Rib: Small Gold Ultra Wire
Rear Body: #12 Silver Uni Mylar Tinsel
Front Body: Fl. Orange STS Trilobal Dubbing
Hackle: Yellow Mallard Flank
Hackle Support: Loon UV Flow Resin
Confluence Beer Pairing:
While still a few weeks away from October, we're going to go with an autumn staple in our neighborhood and one that we look forward to seasonally almost as much as the coho and cutthroat fishing. Chuckanut's Festbier is a light and malty golden-hued lager. Like Colt 45, it "works everytime", without having to reduce yourself to drinking Colt 45.