Blue-Winged Olive with Zelon/Deer Hair Wing

All about flies Fly Tying
1

I am really liking the use of zelon behind the comparadun deer hair wing on these flies. Getting ready for a BWO hatch in April. Top photo is more traditional Blue Winged Olive wing color. Others are a color I am playing with. In sunlight, it gets much lighter.

Here’s another similar fly:

2

earlier today i was wondering about where you had gone byron. good to “see” y’all. excellent tie! great photos.

3

thanks Wes.

4

Byron,

Great tie; real nice job on the wing. Craig Mathews does it with his Sparkle Dun and continues the zelon back for a shuck http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFmuGIhNv4s

Regards,
Scott

5

Nice fly! I enjoy fishing deer hair comparaduns. Nicely done!

6

Nice fly. Here’s another take on the BWO. This one tied on a #22 scud hook.
Two materials: duck flank and Zelon. The duck flank makes the body and the wing, all with one piece.
The Zelon goes below, to form the hackle-like legs.

I do put a micro-dot of CA glue at the base of the Zelon crossbar.
That allows me to use fewer thread wraps, which helps to keep
an ugly thread lump from forming. I also use the new 14/0 thread.

7

Byron,
Both of the flies in your recent posts are well tied, and the Z-lon adds a halo of light to the wings - very nice. However, in southern Ontario BWOs are just that - blue/grey wings with olive (like in a martini) bodies. It is easy enough to change the colour of your fly of course, just by changing the colour of materials. I might fish your flies for a sulpher hatch, or as a general dry fly, but I do wonder why it is the colour it is if you are intending to imitate BWOs.

http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/240/Mayfly-Baetis-tricaudatus-Blue-Winged-Olive

8

I also use a dun color zelon. Just trying different colors. In the sunlight, that darker color lightens up. I added a couple other photos.
Thanks,
Byron

9

Byron,

Very nice ties. I need to work on tying up some of those compara dun/haystack type flies. I’m a big fan of the fly tying of Fran Betters, who developed the Haystack, but have yet to tie one! Got my grubby little hands on a whole tanned deer hide, so I gotta get cracken!

pittenrigh - that looks like one of those incredibly easy patterns, like the Griffiths Gnat, that turned out to be an incredibly deadly fly! Very interesting pattern. I like it!

Best regards, Dave S.