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.