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Blue Wing Olive Nymphs – a quick swim to the surface
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Tying Instructions
1. Attach a hook to the vise. I am using a size 16, TMC 3761 nymph hook. Wrap a small copper wire behind the eye of the hook crossing over the tag end to lock the wire to the shank.
2. Wrap the wire creating a thorax bulge just in front of the midpoint of the shank and a smooth abdomen to the bend of the hook. Frank Sawyer would trim off the tag end near the bend of the hook. I trimmed it near the thorax.
3. Clip about 4-6 fibers from a Pheasant Tail. Select a section in which the tips are light in color and the dark area is further down the fibers. Separate the fibers and even the tips.
4. Attach the fiber tips to the bend of the hook creating a tail that is about an eighth of an inch on a size 16 hook. Two tight wraps will hold the fibers in place.
5. Wrap the fibers around the wire creating a rope. The tail was uplifted in the photo due to the weight of the hackle pliers when taking this photo. The fibers will be back in their horizontal position once I start wrapping the fibers arouind the abdomen.
6. Wrap the fibers with the copper wire core evenly up the abdomen and over the thorax areas. Note how the color of the abdomen is light than the thorax. The darker thorax represents a maturing nymph. I do not have enough Pheasant Tail fibers to complete a wingcase, so I will secure the tag ends behind the eye and attach more fibers for a wingcase.
7. Select 4-5 more fibers and attach the fibers in front of the thorax with a couple of wire wraps.
8. Bring the wire to the rear of the thorax and secure the wingcase fibers with one wrap.
9. Bring the wire to the front of the thorax and secure the wingcase with one wrap. This provides an ample wingcase covering to top of the thorax. Frank Sawyer would often do this procedure a third time, finishing the fly behind the thorax with a whip finish of the wire. Trim off the tag ends of the fibers.
10. The rest of Frank’s family preferred to finish behind the eye of the hook and this is how I finished as well. Wrap a small head with the wire and secure with a couple of half hitches. You can also whip finish but that creates a larger head.
11. This is the finished fly pattern using the techniques of Frank Sawyer. Frank did not create leg appendages nor did he use any more materials than copper wire and Pheasant Tail fibers. However, these two materials create a depth and translucency to the pattern.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 3761 #14-20 |
| Thread | Small Copper Wire |
| Body | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Tail | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Wingcase | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Thorax | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
Blue Wing Olive Nymphs
The Blue Wing Olive mayfly begins its life cycle on the bottom of the stream or river as a nymph. BWO are swimmers so the nymphs are torpedo-like in shape and can quickly swim to the surface once they are ready to “hatch”. Once the nymph reaches the surface the nymph has to penetrate the surface film with the top of its back and split open. The dun emerges from the nymphal shuck and lofts into the air or may ride on the surface with extended legs as the wings dry before lifting off for streamside vegetation.
Spinners
The BWO’s are rather small in sizes 16 to 20. From the vegetation, the duns will molt into spinners and the males and females will mate with the female returning to the water surface to lay eggs. Some will actually swim back down to the river bottom and lay the eggs directly on the streambed. The females will expire on the surface with it’s wings outstretched, this is known as the “spinner fall”.
4 month life cycle
Lifecycle of BWO
Blue Wing Olive nymphs only have a 4 month life cycle so there may be 2-3 generations of BWO’s each year. As a dun or spinner, the stage is only 24-48 hours. The nymphs are dark brown to a light tannish olive in coloration with two tails and a short center tail. Normally in sizes 16-20.
Hatches
The hatches occur in late September and continue through November and then again in the Spring during March through June. Most of their life are in the larval stage within the cobbles and aquatic vegetation of the stream.
Nymphs
Once the nymph matures, the nymph will drift and swim near the substrate of the streambed. This is when the nymph is most vulnerable to the trout. Fish the nymphs deep along the bottom or high in the water column just before the hatch. BWO’s like slow to moderate currents such as runs and back eddies. Fishing below the foam lines is often a good choice.
Suggested Patterns
Within the nymph fly category, Blue Wing Olives are well represented by Pheasant Tail Nymphs, A.P. Nymph, Barr’s Emerger, Wonder Nymph, Hare’s Ear Nymph, Hogan’s S&M Nymph, and Pheasant Tail & Partridge Soft Hackle. A Zebra midge can also be a good choice to mimic the pupa stage ascending to the surface.
Concentrate on the surface film with unweighted nymphs and emergers. Weighted nymphs works well near the bottom prior to the hatch and using a PT Soft Hackle with a Zebra dropper is great on the swing. Using a tight line nymphing technique will be much more effective than a dead-drift.
Variations
AP Nymph, BWO
| Hook | TMC 3761 #12-18 |
| Thread | Danville Olive 6/0 |
| Weight | 0.015 |
| Body | Olive Dyed Beaver Dubbing |
| Thorax | Olive Dyed Beaver Dubbing |
| Tail | Olive Dyed Mallard Flank |
| Legs | Olive Dyed Mallard Flank |
| Wingcase | Olive Dyed Mallard Flankdarkened with Olive Copic Pen |
| Ribbing | Small Gold Oval Tinsel |
| Head | Olive Dyed Beaver Dubbing |
Robo PTN
| Hook | TMC 3761 #14-20 |
| Thread | Veevus Black 12/0 |
| Head | Gold Bead |
| Weight | 0.015 Leadfree Wire |
| Ribbing | Small Gold or Copper Wire |
| Body | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Thorax | 50% STS Trilobal Dark Olive and 30% Bronze Peacock Lite Brite and 20% Copper Lite Brite Blend |
| Shellback | Narrow Flat Pearl Tinsel |
| Tail | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Wingcase | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Overwing | Wide Flat Pearl Tinsel with Loon Clear Fly Finish, Thin |
Pheasant Tail & Partridge Soft Hackle
| Hook | TMC 3769 #12-18 |
| Thread | Small Copper Wire |
| Body | 4-5 Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Tail | 2-3 Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Hackle | Gray Hungarian Partridge |
Barr’s Emerger, BWO
| Hook | TMC 2487 #18-22 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Iron Gray 8/0 |
| Body | BWO Superfine |
| Thorax | Blue Dun Superfine |
| Tail | Brown Hackle Fibers |
| Wingcase | Medium Dun Hackle Fibers |
| Legs | Medium Dun Hackle Fibers |
Wonder Nymph, BWO
| Hook | TMC 2487, sizes 16-20 |
| Thread | 8/0 Uni-thread Olive |
| Body | Hareline Dubbing Olive Brown |
| Thorax | Hareline Dubbing, Dark Hare's Ear |
| Tail | Dyed Mallard Flank Wood Duck Fibers |
| Wingcase | Medium Dun Hen Neck Hackle, fluffy base |
| Ribbing | Small Gold Wire |
Hare’s Ear Nymph, BWO
| Hook | TMC 3761 #12-18 |
| Thread | Unithread Olive 6/0 |
| Ribbing | Oval Gold Tinsel |
| Head | Black Bead |
| Weight | 0.015 Leadfree Wire |
| Body | Olive Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Thorax | Olive Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Tail | Olive Hare's Mask Guard Hairs |
| Wingcase | Mottled Oak Turkey Feather |
Hogan’s S&M Nymph, BWO
| Hook | TMC 3769 #16-18 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive Thread 8/0 |
| Head | Copper Bead |
| Ribbing | Olive Ultra Wire, SM |
| Body | Uni-thread Olive Thread 8/0 |
| Thorax | Dark Olive Antron |
| Tail | Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Wingcase | Brown Goose Biot |
| Legs | Olive Krystal Flash |
Zebra Midge
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, sizes 14-22 |
| Thread | Uni Thread 8/0 Black |
| Head | Black, Gold, or Silver Bead |
| Body | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Ribbing | Small Silver Wire |
| Wing | Pearl Krystal Flash |