Klinkhammer Blue Winged Olive – 02/23/2020

Klinkhammer Blue Winged Olive 02/23/2020 Photo Album

I counted my CDC blue winged olive supply and determined that adequate quantities were present in my bins for the upcoming season. Over the last several years I settled on three different styles of blue winged olive flies to match the ever changing emergence of these diminutive mayflies. In most cases the CDC olive is my first option, but quite frequently, especially on windy days, the trout ignore the CDC version, and this circumstance forces me to experiment with alternatives. A craven soft hackle emerger without a bead occasionally produces on difficult and windy days, but I apply floatant and fish it in the film, and this presentation is very difficult to track. A larger leading fly assists with visibility, but the wet fly fished as a dry is my third and final choice.

Not Bad

Several years ago I experimented with a Klinkhammer BWO pattern. You can view a materials table along with some narrative about this fly in my 01/09/2018 post. A link to an instance when the Klinkhammer justified my confidence is contained in my 02/22/2019 post.

Four New BWO Energers

My supply of Klinkhammer blue winged olives lagged my other versions, and this condition is probably related to its late addition as a mainstay fly in my arsenal. I remedied this situation to some extent, when I visited my fly tying station and churned out four new size 22 models. Hopefully the Klinkhammer will continue to be a productive addition to my fly box in 2020.