Olive Devaux

Hook: dry fly
Thread: white and olive 70 denier
Tail: light dun hackle fibers
Body: olive thread
Rib: white thread
Rear hackle: dark dun
Front hackle: light dun
Wing: light dun hackle tips

West Branch Report

With last night's rain, the water levels were up a bit (~450 cfs at Walton) and the water was a bit more cloudy than its been for a few days. According to the pros, the higher water and cooler temps should be good for fishing so here's hoping. While out on the West Branch near Hamden I did see some decent bug activity, though the surface feeding was sporadic for most of the evening.

Best guest at what I was seeing is that we had Hendricksons, Blue Quills (dark bodied, dark winged mayflies), and the occasional bright green apple caddis. I fished a few different patterns throughout the evening, starting with a basic March Brown wet fly, and then progressing to a Hendrickson parachute, a blue quill, a BWO with CDC wings, and a rusty spinner. Dark flies definitely seemed to be the most effective tonight. I had trouble seeing the small #18 blue quill though I think it was probably the best choice based on color and size of the naturals. I tied on the #14 BWO since it was a little bigger and floated a lot better making it far easier to spot. It caught a beautiful 16" brown that casually slurped it from the foam. I admit, I knew he was there, but I thought he was a much smaller fish when I casted to him.

CDC Emerger

As promised, my first fly that caught me a fish. It's a great little pattern that's quick to tie and represents a number of bugs. I originally tied it to be a BWO, but last night it did duty as a spent caddis and/or a blue quill or quill gordon and landed me a beautiful fish on the first presentation. 

Hook: #16 emerger

Thread: 70 denier, black or olive

Abdomen: stripped peacock herl

Thorax: olive dubbin

Wing: 2 dark dun CDC feathers tied facing rearward and then pulled forward over dubbin ball to form a wing case and tied behind the eye to form the wing.  

BWO CDC Cripple

A modified Madison Guide Cripple pattern using CDC for the wing and colors to imitate a BWO. 

Hook: #16 Emerger

Thread: black 70 denier 

Shuck: Himalayan goat fur

Body: Olive hare's ear

Wing: dark dun CDC tied cripple style (trim butt end to protrude from hackle to end of thorax)

Hackle: natural dun (take 2-3 wraps over CDC butts and 1-2 in front of wing. Trim notch in lower hackle so that hackle is slightly less than the hook gap)

Madison Guide Cripple

Quick to tie hi-vis cripple/emerger pattern. 

Hook: emerger 14-18

Thread: to match (cream/brown shown)

Tail: Zelon or hair (Himalayan goat fur shown)

Abdomen: peacock herl or dubbed (caddis green & march brown shown)

Wing: Poly yarn tied cripple style

Hackle: to match (grizzly)

Notes:

- trim wing butt to end of thorax. 

- cut notch out of bottom of hackle so fly rides low in the water. 

CDC Blue Wing Olive

Pattern: 

Hook: Dry Fly (14 or 16)
Thread: Olive
Tail: Dark Dun Ultra Fibbets
Body: Olive Super Fine Dubbin
Wing: Dark Dun CDC  

Instructions:

1. Begin thread at eye and wind back to tail tie in.  Do not trim tag end of thread!
2. Measure fibbets (slightly longer than body) and tie in with two pinch wraps.
3. Bring tag end up and through fibbets and pull forward along shank to split tail.
4. Tie in tag end with fibbets and trim.
5. Advance thread to wing position.
6. Tie in two CDC feathers, first on far side, second on near side.
7. Trim butts and tie down, bring thread to tail.
8. Create tapered dubbin noodle and wrap body.
9. Using dubbin noodle, wrap in front of wings to lift them to vertical, then use dubbin to split wings with x-wraps.  
10. Neaten up head with thread wraps.
11. Whip finish & cement.

For an excellent demonstration, check out Jim Misiura's video.  The fly is billed as a dun, but the profile looks rather spinner-like to me so I'll be fishing both ways.

CDC BWOs from different angles:

Blue-wing Olive Parachute Emerger

Pattern:

Hook: Emerger or Dry Fly

Thread: Olive

Tail: Dun Hackle Fibers
Abdomen: Stripped Peacock Herl

Thorax: Olive  Super Fine Dubbing

Wing Post: Poly Yarn (or calf-tail or similar)

Hackle: Dun, tied parachute style

Instructions:

• Strip fibers off of peacock herl leaving only stem and save (I use a pencil eraser though traditional is to soak the hurl in a bleach solution)Start thread behind eye, wrap back halfway, then forward half-way back to eye.
• Tie in Poly Yarn
• Tie in Dun Hackle behind eye
• Create post with Poly yarn and hackle (leave hackle dangling out of top of post for now)
• Wrap thread back and tie in tail.
• Tie in stripped peacock herl at tail and advance thread forward to thorax
• Wrap peacock herl forward to thorax, tie down and trim.
• Coat peacock lightly with head cement to strengthen and add luster.
• Form tight dubbing noodle and dub thorax.
• Wrap hackle parachute style 3-4 wraps, then tie in with two thread wraps around post.
• Wrap thread behind eye, whip finish and cement.
• Trim poly yarn to proper height (~ body length of fly)

For a great demo on creating parachute flies, check out this excellent instructional video from Tightline Productions.