As I’ve stated previously, I’ve been tying a lot. I’ve had my vise in my truck and have been tying a couple flies here and there, or when I get a little break at work. It’s all been in anticipation of Blue-Winged Olives, which have been somewhat early this year in PA. My focus has been on tying emergers with a CDC loop wing. Early season Olives are known for struggling to take flight so I thought emergers might be a good tactic. Of course, I know that when it comes to my luck, specifically fishing luck, if I go looking for a BWO hatch it won’t happen. I tied a cluster of nymphs as well…just in case.
I work abnormal hours. Most of my days off are mid-week while the rest of civilization is working away. As a result I usually fish alone. While prepping for this year’s dry fly season I had asked a couple of guys about where to fish for a good shot at BWOs. When I received an invite to tag along with a fellow www.paflyfish.com member I jumped at the chance. I still can’t express enough that not only are most members of PA Fly Fish extremely knowledgeable, they are also very gracious, and a hell of a lot of fun to fish with. This past Saturday was no exception. Aside from all of the tips and pointers I picked up, it was nice to not be talking to myself for a change.
As our day progressed, it became apparent the BWOs weren’t going to cooperate. We saw a handful of sporadic rises and about two duns floating along. Good thing that I wrapped up those nymph patterns. We ended up drifting all sorts of sub-surface flies and had a decent bit of success. My go to set up was a size 20 olive or black zebra midge with a clear glass bead head trailed off of a bead head olive nymph tied on a size 16 hook. Most fish took the little zebra midge. As our day was wrapping up, we were working through our last pool, I had a big take. Several minutes later we landed a 23″ rainbow with shoulders and perfect fins to close out the day. The fishing was decent, the company was excellent, and hopefully I’ll get another crack at olives before it’s too late. Upon further review, my luck may not be as poor as I previously assessed.