Blue Wing Olive
Description
This Catskill-style dry fly imitates blue-winged olive mayfly duns during cool, overcast spring and fall hatches on trout streams and rivers. Its slim olive body, divided dun wings, and sparse dun hackle suit the small Baetis and related olives that trout often take selectively.
Materials
- wing: Dun Hen Hackle Tips
- hackle: Medium Dun Dry Fly Hackle
- tail: Medium Dun Hackle Fibers
- thread: Olive 8/0 or 70-Denier Thread
- body: Olive Superfine Dubbing
- hook: Standard Dry Fly Hook
Tying Instructions
- 1.
Secure a standard dry-fly hook in the vise and start the olive thread one eye-length behind the eye.
- 2.
Tie in a matched pair of dun hen hackle tips at the three-quarter point with the tips extending about one hook-shank length forward.
- 3.
Lift the hackle tips upright, build a short thread dam in front of their stems, and divide the wings with figure-eight wraps.
- 4.
Wrap the thread back to the bend while keeping the underbody smooth and level.
- 5.
Tie in a sparse bunch of medium-dun hackle fibers at the bend, setting the tail about one hook-shank length long.
- 6.
Dub a thin, tapered olive body forward from the tail to the rear of the wings.
- 7.
Tie in a medium-dun dry-fly hackle by its prepared stem immediately behind the wings.
- 8.
Wrap three to four close hackle turns behind the wings, then bring the feather between the wings.
- 9.
Wrap two to three close turns in front of the wings, leaving one eye-length of bare shank.
- 10.
Secure and trim the hackle, then form a small, neat thread head without crowding the eye.
- 11.
Whip finish and apply head cement.