Ducktail bwo #24 DaiRiki 125
Feathertail #20 DaiRiki 135
Flat caddis #18 DaiRiki 135
OK. These are cool, great ideas.
But why do you call the top one a Blue Winged Olive?
RE> " why do you call it a BWO? "
Here’s the model. I changed the original post photo to a better example with a slightly better color match.
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Traditional Catskill patterns, Campara duns and Sparkle duns are fine for size 14-18 flies. Even for 20s. But for ultra-tiny BWOs they’re too hard to tie. The Ducktail is a way to make floating micro-duns easier to tie. I’m 63 now and I do need to wear 5x jeweler’s goggles to tie flies this small. But even with the goggles a traditional pattern on a #24 hook is too much pia. The Ducktail makes it practical and possible.
One tuft of duck flank makes abomen and wing all at once. A horizontal crossbar-tuft of Zelon on the bottom of the thorax keeps it afloat. A tiny lump of dubbing behind the eye–and in front of the wing–keeps the wing pointing upright. I tie the Zelon on somewhat loosely–so I don’t need too many bulky thread wraps. A micro-dot of CA glue, as a last step, keeps the Zelon hackle locked in place. I think size matters more than color. So much so I do tend to be a bit careless about color matching.
I like that little caddis!