The Blue Wing Olive is a dry fly pattern designed to imitate a mayfly. The pattern was first tied for fishing the streams of the Eastern United States. However, it has proven to be such a successful fish catcher that its popularity has spread from coast to coast. This is simple pattern to master even for the novice tier.
Materials
Start with a quality "Standard Dry Fly" hook in sizes 14 to 20. Tie several flies in each size so that you will have the right fly size to match the particular mayfly in the hatch. Choose a prewaxed thread as opposed to non-waxed because it is more durable. Use an olive colored 6/0 thread for sizes 14 and 16 and 8/0 for anything smaller. The fly body is dubbed material, either olive dyed natural fur or a synthetic olive-colored material. Synthetic is equal to fur in durability, however, synthetic resists water and floats the fly better. Dubbing wax is necessary to make the thread sticky so the dubbing material adheres to the thread. Hackle is Medium Blue Dun grade "No. 1," which is the highest quality hackle available guaranteeing that all the hackles on a neck are excellent." A complete hackle neck can be purchased, however, hackle companies are now selling packages of No.1 grade,12 inch long individual hackles for each specific hook size making the selection of the proper size hackle easier. Wings and tail of the fly are from a standard Indian or American dry fly neck in Blue Dun color. These are of lesser quality, but still tough enough to take a pounding from the fish and retain their shape.
Tying
Lock the hook in the vice and wrap the thread back along the hook shank until it is even with the hook's barb. The fly is tied from back to front. The tail is 10 to 12 wisps from a hackle, the protruding tail is the same length as the shank of the hook, this determines the size hackle to pluck from the neck. The tips are kept even by pinching the wisps between your thumb and forefinger, cutting them off at the hackle stem and not letting go until they are tied down on the hook. Return the thread to the hook's barb. Dubbing is a simple matter of spinning small amounts of the dubbing material onto the thread with your thumb and forefinger. Wrap the dubbed thread forward with each wrap tight against the previous one. Cover one-third of the hook shank, the body should be level and double the diameter of the hook shank. Wrap four spins of bare thread against the body's front end to keep it from slipping forward on the shank.
Create the wings by selecting two small matched hackles, twice the length of the hook, from the upper portion of the standard neck. Set them back-to-back so the tips point outward. On the remaining portion of bare hook, at a point just back of the mid-point tie the hackles down snug, the tips extending just past the hook's eye. Cut the butt ends off at the tie point. Lift the wings up; wrap several spins of thread against their front to lock them in an upright position. Return the thread to the body portion and tie in the long hackle. Pre-sized individual hackles will be the proper size. Pick a neck hackle where the wisps are twice the distance as between the hook point and the shank. Spin the hackle four times behind the wings and three times in front. Tie the hackle down and cut it off. Form the head by wrapping the thread to the eye and back to the hackle forming a cone. Tie it off with three half hitches. Apply fly head cement before the thread is cut or the head will unravel.
To test a dry fly for proper proportions place it on a hard surface, if the tips of the tail, bend of the hook, and the tips of the hackle all touch evenly the fly is right.
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