How to Tie a Blue Wing Olive Dry Fly

A blue wing olive, also known as "blue winged olive," dry fly is one of the most prolific mayflies in North American trout streams. They are present most of the year and their small size permits the growth of up to three generations per year. They are perfect dry fly mayflies because they can hatch in impressive numbers and the duns will ride the water for a long time before taking flight, creating easy pickings for trout. You can learn how to tie a blue wing olive dry fly.

Things You'll Need

  • Tying vise
  • Bobbin
  • Hackle pliers
  • Standard dry fly hook
  • Olive 8/0
  • Olive dubbing
  • Dark blue dun hackle barbs
  • Medium blue dun hackle
  • Medium blue dun hen hackle tips
  • Head cement
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Instructions

    • 1

      Start by using a size 14 dry fly hook if you are tying this pattern for the first time. When you can turn out a decent dry fly in that size, you can move down to a smaller size which requires more precision.

    • 2

      Secure your hook in the tying vise, tie in the size 8/0 olive thread at the hook eye and wind the thread back to the bend. Tie in approximately eight blue dun hackle fibers for the tail. Trim the butts and make several wraps of thread to secure and smooth the tail.

    • 3

      Wind the olive dubbing around the thread approximately 2 inches in length to create the body of the fly. Wind it fairly thin and dub the body forward from the tail to the head of the hook, leaving enough room to tie in the hackle.

    • 4

      Tie in two medium blue dun hen hackle tips for the wings. Make a few figure-eight wraps with the thread to secure the wings to the hook in an upright position.

    • 5

      Select a medium blue dun hackle with stiff barbs to act as legs and tie in directly behind the hook eye. Use hackle pliers to grip the tip of the hackle and wind it several turns in the front and back of the wings, making the last turn at the head of the hook. Tie the hackle down with the thread and cut off the tip. Continue winding the thread until a neat head is formed. Tie off and apply head cement to prevent unraveling.