Blue-Winged Olive

Hi,

Size 18 Blue-Winged Olive for this Spring. Couple of views.

Midge Pupa

Getting ready already for a Spring fishing trip to Bennett Spring in Missouri and either the White River or the Norfolk in Arkansas in early April. Tying some "sipping midges" and some of these pupae. This one is a size 18.

Blue Wing Olive using Zelon and CDC for wing

Hi,

Trying another combination of materials for a Blue Wing Olive fly. The top fly is a size 16 fly using both CDC and Zelon materials for the wings. The bottom fly is a size 14. In it, I propped the tails up a bit.

Zelon Dubbing from Blue Ribbon Flies

Hi,

Just received some new zelon dubbing from Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone. Used it for this CDC Blue Wing Olive fly. One pretty long unruly piece of zelon included. Can't wait to see the floatability of this dubbing. Should be pretty good.

Traditional Dry Fly with Zelon Wings

I find Zelon material to be a great wing material. It is translucent and also quite shiny. Zelon fibers float, so it will not be a drawback in a dry fly. I believe it is a very good replacement for traditional winging material - hackle tips.

Parachute Blue-Winged Olive

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This is a size 16 parachute Blue-Winged Olive. It is a great fly when the hatch of Blue Wing Olives is beginning as the fly floats low in the surface film. It is also easier to follow than many patterns as the post is quite visible.

Biot Bodied CDC BWO Emerger

It is amazing how we fly fishers/fly tiers use abreviations. I caught myself as I put the title of this fly above. It does use a CDC (cul de canard) feather; and it is tied to represent a BWO (Blue-Winged Olive) - Baetis. Reminds me of fishing the Box Canyon of the Henrys Fork years ago. I came upon the three Barker Brothers who were also fishing. I knew them well and yelled out: "What are you fishing?" Bruce yelled back: "GRHE"! He laughed. He was fishing a Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear nymph!!!

Anyway, I am preparing for an April trip to a spring creek in Missouri. I expect that there will be a Blue-Winged Olive hatch to some extent at that time.

Swept Mayfly Wing v. Upright Mayfly Wing

About 15 yrs. ago, I was trying to come up with a mayfly pattern which would be more like the natural mayfly dun's wing - swept back instead of upright. I came up with what I called the "Maycad" which I felt can imitate either a mayfly or even a caddis. This is the first fly shown above.

Then, recently, I saw a pattern attributed to Rene Harrop - a famous fly tier. The difference is that his pattern had the hackle tied in before the deer hair wing. My rendition of his fly is the second pattern shown above.

These are both meant to imitate a BWO - Blue-winged Olive. They are both tied on a size 16 dry fly hook.

I see where Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Mt. has now added Zelon to the deer hair wings. Instead of tying the zelon material at the base of the thorax for the shuck, the zelon is tied behind the wing just like the deer hair itself and then tied down back to form the trailing shuck.

It may provide some sparkle which may or may not be seen by the fish.
The top photo is a PMD and the bottom two photos are Sulphurs.

Amber Colored CDC/Deer Hair Sparkle Dun

I ordered some different colored turkey biot feathers from Orvis. This color is called "amber". I added light olive CDC feathers to the flared deer hair for the wing.

I think this fly will perhaps work as both a PMD and a Sulfur. I will let you know early this coming summer!!!!

Rusty Spinner with Zelon Wings

Zelon is a material usually used as the trailing shuck on comparadun patterns. It does not absorb water as other materials such as antron, yet, it is shiny and has a sparkle.
I decided to use it as wings in this Rusty Spinner pattern.

Below is a PMD tied in a similar fashion: