The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Nymph

Killer Mayfly

Insect Species Icon Blue Wing Olive, PMD, Trico and 5 others
Difficulty Icon Easy - 3-5 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Straight Eye, Standard Wire, 3X Long, Semi-Dropped Point
  • Thread: UTC 70 Denier, Black
  • Tail: Mayfly Tails
  • Body: Micro Tubing, Black
  • Casing: 1/8″ Scud Back, Tan
  • Thorax: Superfine Dubbing, Olive
  • Legs: Partridge, Natural

The slender nature of a mayfly is difficult to impersonate. This pattern just happens to do a beautiful job. Materials are pretty strict on this bug, although there is one change out that could be made.

Legs: India Hen Back fibers could play the same role as the Partridge if needed.

This pattern can imitate most of the smaller mayfly species with just a color change. Black and olive for BWO’s, yellow and sulfur yellow for PMD’s, brown and brown for general use, etc. Having plenty of color and size variations on hand can pay off big time.

With an outline that’s on point for most small mayfly nymphs this fly is versatile enough to be considered a different species with just a mere change of color. Such realistic qualities paired with simplicity make this pattern easy to tie multiples of, with all kind of variations included.

Best results will come from fishing this bug near the bottom. Since it doesn’t have hardly any weight of it’s own some split shot, or a heavier fly above it in the nymph rig is usually necessary to get it down to the correct depth. This fly can also be ultra deadly as a dropper off of a dry fly in shallow riffles and runs.

Blue Wing Olive

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24
Region: Northwest
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24
Region: East
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24
Region: Southeast
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24
Region: Midwest
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24

Callibaetis

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Northwest
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: East
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Midwest
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18

Green Drake

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, Midwest
Green Drake
Sizes: #8 - #14
Region: East
Green Drake
Sizes: #8 - #14

Hendrickson

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East, Midwest
Hendrickson
Sizes: #10 - #16

Mahogany Dun

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Mahogany Dun
Sizes: #14 - #20
Region: East, Midwest
Mahogany Dun
Sizes: #14 - #20

March Brown

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, East
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Northwest
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Midwest
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14

PMD

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, East, Southeast, Midwest
PMD
Sizes: #14 - #20

Trico

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Trico
Sizes: #18 - #26
Region: East, Southeast, Midwest
Trico
Sizes: #18 - #26

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