As we head into autumn, I’ll be looking out for two BWO mayflies that will be hatching. There will be a Blue Winged Olive in sizes 18 to 20 (Baetis vagans) and another one in sizes 22 to 24 (Baetis intercalaris?).
One of my favorite patterns is the plain ol’ Pheasant Tail. In autumn, size will matter, and so, I’ll be tying the PT in size 22 with olive-colored fibers.
Tying such small flies isn’t the easiest, but I use the technique employed in the video up top. Keeps the hook eye clear and the addition of the resin adds some weight to the fly. I wrote about the video last year and wanted to again highlight it, given the importance of small BWOs the next few months.
I will be tightline nymphing the micro PT nymph as a dropper. If I see BWOs start to emerge, I’ll switch to a small BWO parachute dry with the nymph fished as a dropper about 8″ below. Hit them high and low.
Hopefully, all this work out.
Good video, I refer to it quite often.
Mike
Same here. It really is a great way to tie a small PT, which really ranks up there as one of the best flies ever. I'm not sure if color matters, but I tie them in: black, brown, natural, and olive.