Most of the time fishing spiders have some of their legs in the water to sense the vibrations of potential prey, but the large Six-spotted Fishing Spider (Dolomedes triton) that I spotted last Friday in Prince William County was perched on a log at the edge of a small creek. When I posted the photo on Facebook, one of my friends noted that he often finds fishing spiders far from the water, including in his wood pile.
I do not know how large this spider was, but it looked huge to me. Perhaps that is because the spider had all of its legs fully extended, unlike some spiders whose legs are partially bent when they are in a web.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
He does look very long-legged, I agree. I always think these spiders look like they would be satisfying to stroke if they were scaled up to pet dog size.
They do look kind of fuzzy, but I must confess that I’ve never thought of petting one. 🙂
Maybe I am weird like that.
Wow.
This one posed beautifully for you, Michael. Almost looks like a brown sunburst.
A brown sunburst? I like that visual image. 🙂