Hopefully this will pass for a BWO?
What pattern do you find to be the best for the BWO?
Thanks,
Byron
Not a bad looking fly. I have never seen one where the wing goes from the back of the thorax to the head. Interesting. Still better than what I could do.
My BWOs have devolved to a TMC 900BL hook, some olive dun thread, and a CDC wing. They don’t look like much, but the fish love them. I don’t see much point in making a complicated fly, especially in that small of a size, when the fish don’t seem to mind the simple ones.
Here is an older version, on a 2488:
Byron,
Nice tie. John Scott posted some pics of a loopwing he used for the March Brown and mahogany hatches. have to look for them.
Regards,
Scott
How do you tie your loop wing s?
Thanks,
Byron
… is very similar in construction to my loop wing drake emerger. On the drake, I have been using CDL for tailing, in a sparser amount than on your fly, my hackling is a bit more pronounced, or fuller, than on your BWO, and the CDC wing is less pronounced. ( Scott - don’t bother looking for the mahagony dun and March brown versions. I’m pretty sure they disappeared when I had to resolve the problem I had with photobucket.com last spring. )
Regarding your question about what works - one that I have done quite well with is my CDL Parachute BWO. Follow the link.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/041309fotw.php
For emergers, I really like the Quigley Cripple, and Scott Sanchez has a PFD ( personal floatation devise ) Emerger that does well but is a bit difficult for me to tie in BWO sizes. It is similar to a Quigley Cripple, and the PFD part of it a foam wing ( rather than deer hair ) around which the hackle is wound. That pattern actually did very well for me several years ago tied for a drake emergence on a neat backcountry stream down in SE Idaho, and for a huge midge that comes off just below the falls on Fall River just outside the SW corner of Yellowstone National Park.
John
Here’s the way Jason Borger designs and ties this fly:
BWOs are a favorite subject for me. They provide the best dry fly fishing of the year for me (at least in part because they tend to come when the human hatch is at its lowest ebb).
I make mine with two materials: a tuft of duck flank and a tuft of Zelon. This photo is so closeup it looks big. But it is tied on a #22 scud hook. Actually maybe this one is a #20. But I often use 22s. Using two materials only keeps it simple enough for small hooks, still with enough flotation to survive those 25mph Oct/Nov wind gusts. DG’s fly wins the simplicity contest, for sure. But maybe not the gusty flotation contest. Lot’s of good flies here.
pittendrigh, is the grey z-lon used as the thorax?
I use gray 14/0 thread, a single tuft of duck flank that forms both abdomen and wing, and an under-mounted horizontal crossbar of Zelon for (legs?) flotation. I need a better photo, perhaps taken more from above, so you can see the flat, splayed-out Zelon legs. I don’t rely on thread to secure the Zelon tightly. I lash it on loosely and then apply a small micro-dot of CA glue. That keeps the size of the thorax-thread-lump from getting too fat…in other words the thorax is just the thread lump that surrounds the wing bend (forcing the duck flank to bend upwards, so the horizontal abdomen becomes (also) the vertical wing. To make this pattern you do need a short-shank hook. There are some nice light-wire scud hooks out there. But you have to order them in. My local fly shops only have the stouter ones. But that’s good. On the Missouri in fall you can hook 20" or bigger rainbows on those itty-bitty flies. And a #20-22 light wire can be too easily straightened out.
I like it because (for me) it’s easy to tie in the small sizes. Traditional Catskill-like patterns are fine for sizes down to #18. But smaller than that they’re too hard for my clumsy fingers and aging eyes. I like Sparkle Duns and Compara Duns too. But I didn’t invent those and I’m a egotistical jerk who only likes to fish with his own patterns. How stupid is that?
pittendrigh ,
I like that one. Nice and simple for small flies. It reminds me of a simplified, scalled down Hatchmaster.
Pitt:
What vise do you use. Must be small jaws given the size 22 hook size?
I think that one must be a #20. I use an ancient Renzetti something for fly poses in the light tent.
But I tie on Regal and Nor. I do have some #22 examples, rejects from a shadow box I made last winter.
I’ll try to find time to re-photograph that fly so it shows the Zelon legs.
Thanks Pitt
This one (the Ducktail BWO) is tied on a #22 hook. Its tail was a bit too long, so it ended up in my fly box.
A Catskill-like pattern this small I couldn’t tie. Compara Duns and Sparkle Duns do work well in the itty-bitty sizes. This is just what I came up with. Although, I must say, when ever I try to make a tiny Sparkle Dun it ends up way too fat at the thorax. I’ve seen Craig Mathews do it. But I always end up grinding my teeth.
Byron - I’m with you for BWO Emerger’s I like this one:
BWO models to work by?
Beartrap Canyon, Madison River, Montana, April 2009
Male:
Female:
Pitt:
After this post of yours, I tied a PMD Sparkle Dun in size 18. Size 18 in a dry is about as small as I tie. Emergers, etc. I will tie smaller. But in a dry fly, I have not found trout to refuse a size 18.
I’m sure that’s true: trout don’t refuse a #18. We all get carried away at times (me in particular) trying to concoct elaborate justifications for the flies we make. It’s going to be warm enough to fly fish here in a few more days. 40 degrees in January! I need to fire up some beadhead midges. BWOs are still two and half months away.
http://www.danica.com/flytier/sschwartz/half_spent_bwo.htm
http://www.danica.com/flytier/sschwartz/bwo_emerger.htm
http://www.danica.com/flytier/sschwartz/bwo_palm_emerger.htm
These days, I tie the half-spent with wonder wings. I do this down to an 18. Smaller than that I’ll go with a parachute or just a full hackle-collar