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Dry fly

Blue Wing Olive

Also called BWO, Baetis dun

Short answer

The Blue Wing Olive is a dry fly that imitates baetis mayfly duns. It is usually tied in sizes 16 to 20. Fish it spring and autumn, and through winter on tailwaters. Best on overcast, cold, drizzling days — the worse the weather feels, the better the hatch.

Dry fly Intermediate #16-#20

Blue Wing Olive — 6 of clubs from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description
6 of clubs · Dry Fly in the deck

Classic hatch-matcher. Essential in U.S. streams.

Printed on the 6 of clubs

Baetis mayflies are the great contrarians of the insect world. They hatch heaviest on cold, gray, drizzling days when every sensible angler has gone home, and they hatch twice a year, in spring and again in autumn. A Blue Winged Olive hatch on a miserable November afternoon will put fish on the surface that you would never otherwise see feeding.

The reason is the weather itself. A newly emerged dun needs time for its wings to dry before it can fly, and on a cold damp day that can take a minute or more. The insect rides the current, helpless and conspicuous, and trout that normally hold deep move up into feeding lanes because the opportunity is genuinely worth it.

The practical challenge is size. These are small insects, commonly #18 to #22, and anglers routinely fish them two sizes too big. If fish are rising steadily and refusing, the problem is almost always size or drag, in that order — not color, and not pattern.

What does a Blue Wing Olive imitate?

Baetis mayfly duns.

How do you fish a Blue Wing Olive?

Fine tippet, long leader, and an obsessive dead drift. Position yourself so the fly reaches the fish before the leader does. On flat water, downstream presentations with a reach cast outfish upstream casts by a wide margin.

When should you fish a Blue Wing Olive?

Spring and autumn, and through winter on tailwaters. Best on overcast, cold, drizzling days — the worse the weather feels, the better the hatch.

What are the quick tips for fishing it?

  • Go down to 6X and be honest about whether your drift is really drag-free.
  • Carry the emerger and the spinner as well as the dun; fish often key on one stage.
  • A cloudy day in October is worth two bright ones.

How is a Blue Wing Olive tied?

  • Hook: standard dry fly, #16-#22
  • Thread: olive 8/0
  • Tail: dun hackle fibres or Microfibbets
  • Body: olive-gray dubbing, sparse
  • Wing: dun hackle tips or CDC
  • Hackle: blue dun

Dressings vary by tier and region. Treat this as the common recipe, not the only one.

Parachute Adams — King of diamonds from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description Pheasant Tail Nymph — 7 of diamonds from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description Rusty Spinner — 5 of clubs from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description Perdigon — 5 of diamonds from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description

The physical version

Blue Wing Olive is 6 of clubs in the deck.

All 54 flies, drawn by hand, on Genuine Bicycle Rider Back stock with the patented Air-Cushion finish. A reference you can actually deal out — which was rather the point.

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