CDC Blue Wing Olive 02/18/2026 Photo Album

For an early narrative on the origin of the CDC blue wing olive (CDC BWO) please refer to my post of 03/11/2014. I read it before writing this post, and it was a nice refresher.

This fly remains my go to choice, when I encounter a blue wing olive hatch in the spring and fall. It seems to work quite often, and it is a relatively easy fly to tie. I find that it functions best, if I can make a downstream cast. Of course, this involves staying low and out of the trout’s window, since they are looking upstream, and I am above them.

Nice View

I tie these small flies primarily in size 20 and 22, although I have been known to produce a few 24’s. I tie in a small clump of CDC first in the same manner, as I create a comparadun wing. Next I move the thread rearward and create a tail made from two microfibbet tips. When I start the thread, I do not snip off the tag end, because I use it to pull back through the microfibbets to split the tails. As a last step, I dub a very fine noodle to form a tapered body and thorax.

Left Side

This fly is normally the first one I choose during a hatch. However, there are occasions, particularly when it is windy (quite often the case during BWO hatches), when the fish totally ignore this fly. These instances are very frustrating. I have had some success with adding some hackle, wound Catskill style, behind and ahead of the CDC wing. I believe that baetis mayflies create a commotion fighting the wind to get airborne, and the trout key in on movement, and the addition of hackle conveys more motion.

Five New Hackled Versions

I counted my CDC BWO’s of all sizes and determined that my inventory was adequate, so I approached the vise and produced five new versions with hackle collars in size 20. Hopefully these will fool trout during windy conditions, when the trout’s feeding habits become too finicky.

Purple Haze 02/17/2026 Photo Album

My early adventures with the purple haze are documented in my 02/15/2021 post, and the report includes a materials table. The purple haze has become a useful addition to my dry fly arsenal, although I probably deploy it less frequently than many of my old reliables.

Opposite Side

I sometimes believe that it serves as a green drake imitation in a pinch, and on a trip to the Rio Grande several years ago, my guide did, indeed, utilize a purple haze during a fairly prolific green drake hatch, and it produced.

Materials

I counted my supply of purple hazes, and I determined that I was properly stocked. I did, however, discover one in my damaged fly canister, so I stripped it down and tied a new one. Recycling is something that I pride myself on.

Stimulators 02/17/2026 Photo Album

For an account of my introduction to stimulators as well as a hard luck story visit my post of 01/26/2015. Stimulators have become a foundation fly in my dry fly box since the 2015 time period.

Stimulators can be a bit tricky to tie. The original pattern calls for counter wrapping a fine wire rib through the palmered hackles. I do not like the idea of having the extra weight of wire, albeit thin, on a dry fly, so I skip that step and simply palmer the hackle. Another hazard related to tying stimulators is allowing the deer hair wing to spin around the hook shank. When mounting the wing, maintain a solid pinch of the deer hair to the top of the hook, until five or six thread wraps coil through the butt ends of the hair.

Olive Stimulator

Now that I accumulated ten plus years of experience with stimulators, I boiled the pattern down to three productive body colors; yellow, gray and olive, and the olive is somewhat interchangeable with the gray.

Yellow Stimulator

The yellow finds its way on my leader during golden stonefly hatch time. The gray and olive seem to be solid general searching patterns during the summer post-run off time. If a hippie stomper is generating refusals, I often swap it for a stimulator as the leading fly in a double dry setup.  Like the hippie stomper, stimulators are quite buoyant and are relatively easy to track, although I feel that the white wing of the hippie stomper is a bit easier to follow.

Another Olive

I counted all my stimulators and determined that I was adequately supplied. I chose to save time, and I bypassed tying additional stimulators. It’s a great fly that I should probably float more frequently.

Deer Hair Caddis 02/12/2026 Photo Album

For an early report on the deer hair caddis check out my post of 11/28/2011. It contains a materials table.

This is one of the earliest flies I tied, and it remains a winner with minimal modification. It Is very sparse, as it has no tail and only a dubbed body, deer hair wing and hackle collar. The most difficult aspect of tying this fly is preventing the deer hair from twisting around the hook shank. One way to prevent this is by making one full wrap around the deer hair bundle above the hook shank. I have done this, but I find that if I maintain a solid pinch on the hair above the hook shank and then make two wraps with moderate tension and then snug down, I can prevent the hair from rolling. I must warn, however, that you must maintain a solid pinch throughout this step and even after you snug down the first two wraps.Olive Deer Hair Caddis

I carry three body colors: olive-brown, light gray and tan, and I rarely use the tan. The olive-brown and light gray seem to satisfy the fish in nearly all situations. I also have size 14, 16, and 18. I do not utilize the size eighteens very much, but I like having them in case of a small caddis appearance, such as I encountered on the Frying Pan River on one occasion.

Left Side Gray

Over the last several seasons I have enjoyed significant success trailing the deer hair caddis a foot or eighteen inches behind a hippie stomper in a double dry fly configuration. The hippie stomper allows me to track the earth-toned caddis quite well, and the fish seem to favor the more natural looking caddis. I love fishing this combination and the enjoyment derived from a sudden eat from a hungry trout.

Standing on Hackle Tips

The technique described in the last paragraph has led me to use more larger, size 14, deer hair caddis. When I counted my supply, I decided that I could use more14’s, so I spun out five additional light grays and three olive-browns. Caddis are present nearly year round, so I am armed with adequate quantities to dupe western trout.

User Friendly Green Drake 02/09/2026 Photo Album

My initiation to the user friendly green drake is described in detail in my post of 01/31/2019. In addition, a materials table is provided. Like the other green drakes, I experienced mixed levels of success with this fly, and I generally resorted to it as my fourth and final option during green drake hatches.

Moose Mane Tail

All that changed in the summer of 2025. On two separate trips with my friend, Nate, and son, Dan, I gave them a user friendly, and they both began to hook and land fish after fish. Upon witnessing these success stories, I switched to a user friendly and generated similar levels of interest.

Big Wing

Given the revival in the user friendly, I decided to devote time to tying some fresh versions for the 2026 green drake season. In addition, I made some modifications. As was the case with the other styles of western green drake, I substituted moose mane fibers for the tail. I am going all in on moose mane tails for green drakes. For the wing I used white McFlylon (poly), and I left the wing higher and fuller than previously. These user friendlies look great, and I am very excited to test them. The narrow strip of foam adds buoyancy, and if the fly performs as it did in 2025, I may have a new long floating green drake imitation.

Five for the Fly Box

I tied five brand new user friendlies with my modified materials recipe. Bring on the green drakes.

Harrop Hair Wing Green Drake 02/09/2026 Photo Album

For the story on my introduction to the Harrop hair wing green drake check out my post of 12/29/2015. I really enjoyed rereading this recounting of my trip to the Conejos River. This is the third western green drake imitation that I carry in my fly box.

The Harrop hair wing was very effective on the Conejos River, but I cannot say that it has exhibited similar productivity on other western rivers. Of course, I tend to default to it as a third choice, so perhaps it would outperform the other styles, if I gave it more of an opportunity.

Size 14 and 12

Like the comparadun, I find the hair wing difficult to track because of its earth tones. The wing that is slanted back almost reminds be of a stimulator, but the key is to have it angle against the hackle to force it to a more slanted upright position. I think this is important for the effectiveness of the fly. As was the case with the parachute green drake and comparadun, I utilize long moose mane fibers for the tail.

Different Angle

Since I resort to the hair wing less frequently than the other green drake imitations, I did not deplete my supply; and, thus, I did not tie any new versions. Nevertheless, I carry four or five in my green drake box just in case.

Parachute Green Drake 02/08/2026 Photo Album

A click on this link to my 09/11/2012 post, returns you to my first attempt to create a parachute western green drake to mimic the large mayflies that populate many western streams. Every summer I seek these hatches out, as they are my favorite of all the western emergences. The flies are large, and all the trout in the stream seem to tune in when they are prevalent. In fact, I have had decent success weeks after the hatch ended; that is how eager the trout are for the large tasty morsel represented by a western green drake.

Finished Product

This fly has evolved for me over time, so the materials table on the 09/11/2012 post is a bit outdated. After much experimentation I concluded that the moose mane tail is a critical triggering characteristic for this fly, so that remains in my pattern. I retained the maroon rib and the pale olive body, so no change there as well. The biggest modification is the wing. The original pattern called for white calf body, but I substituted white poly yarn such as McFlylon. The McFlylon is much easier to work with than the slippery calf body hair. I am also a proponent of creating a very tall wing. I believe that the large wing is another key triggering feature of the western green drake fly. When I tied the pattern in 2012, I did not possess grizzly hackle dyed olive, but I have a decent supply of that, and I prefer the dark olive hackle on my parachute green drakes.

I tie four styles of green drakes, and all have their moments during a hatch. The parachute green drake is generally the most productive. I lead with it in the morning, when I know that green drakes are present, and it rarely disappoints. The low riding body and high wing imitation dupes fish until around 1PM, when naturals begin to appear. On some days I hang with the paradrake throughout the afternoon, and it produces fish after fish. But for some reason, there are days when fish begin to ignore or refuse the parachute version.

Opposite Side

In these instances I generally shift to a green drake comparadun. Natural green drakes emerge with a large amount of flutter, and I suspect that the large fan wing of the comparadun more accurately represents the wild fluttering action of the emerging adults. I also carry Harrop hair wing green drakes, but their effectiveness does not measure up to the paradrake and comparadun.

Materials Included

Within the last five years I also created some user friendly green drakes. These provided sporadic glimpses of effectiveness, but they also never yielded the consistency that I desire. However, during the summer of 2025 on trips to South Boulder Creek, I gave my son, Dan, and friend, Nate, a user friendly to cast. They both experienced great success; and, in fact, I switched to a user friendly to capitalize on the action. I plan to discuss the user friendly in more detail, when I post on that fly in the near future.

I counted my parachute green drakes and concluded that I needed to replenish my supply with five additional size 14’s. In addition, I refurbished two damaged in size 12. All these flies possess long moose mane tails and high white poly wings colored black with white tips. Dyed olive grizzly hackles are wound around the wing post parachute style. I cannot wait for green drake season.

Green Drake Comparadun 02/08/2026 Photo Album

A second style of western green drake dry fly that I tie is the comparadun. Here is one of my early posts on the comparadun style of green drake. This narrative goes into great detail about my technique for splitting microfibbet tails, but I have since reverted to long moose mane fibers. The moose mane seems to float the comparadun that is void of hackle better than the microfibbets, and more importantly, the trout seem to favor the long dark tails as well.

Size 14 GD Comparadun

I also attempt to make a very full fan wing on my comparaduns. My theory is that the comparadun style shines after lunch when the naturals appear because the large dark wing triggers a response akin to the large fluttering wing of the naturals.

Nice Large Fan Wing – Trout Key on the Big Wing

I generally begin my day during prime green drake hatch season with a parachute green drake, and sometimes that is all I need. But I have also experienced days when the trout begin to refuse the parachute, and in these instances I shift to the comparadun, and quite often the low riding comparadun with the long tail and full wing does the trick. The muted colors of the comparadun make it difficult to track, but under the proper lighting conditions and because of its substantial size, I can generally pick it up.

Looking Closer

I counted my supply of green drake comparaduns and concluded that my stock was adequate. I found one unraveling version, so I repaired it, and I am prepared for the 2026 green drake season.