Bodkin / Patterns

Blue Wing Olive Thorax

Dry Fly · Trout · Grayling · Advanced · 3 versions

As tied by tightlinevideo (Thorax Style CDC Blue Winged Olive)

  • Hook Dai-Riki 305 standard dry fly, 16-24
  • Thread olive 6/0 or 140 denier

Materials

  • Wing Natural CDC feathers, 2
  • Tail support Superfine dubbing, olive
  • Tails Stiff dun hackle fibers or Microfibetts, 12
  • Body Superfine dubbing, olive
  • Hackle Dun hackle
  • Thorax Superfine dubbing, olive

How to tie it

  1. Mash the barb, secure the hook and start the olive thread on the shank.
  2. Tie in two natural CDC feathers as a wing, a hook shank long, just forward of the halfway point with a pinch wrap; trim the butts at an angle.
  3. Form a small ball of olive superfine dubbing at the hook bend to split the tails.
  4. Tie in about a dozen stiff dun hackle fibres (or Microfibetts) as tails 1.5 to 2 hook lengths long, with equal amounts either side of the dubbing ball.
  5. Pull the wing back, wrap in front to prop it up, and take posting wraps.
  6. Dub the abdomen with olive superfine, stopping just behind the wing.
  7. Tie in a dun hackle by its stem in front of the wing, perpendicular to the shank, then dub a thorax behind and in front of the wing.
  8. Wind the hackle once behind the wing then forward, tie off behind the eye, whip finish, and trim the lower hackle fibres so the fly rides low.

Other versions

2 more in the app: As tied by Marty's Bench (Para Post wing), As tied by Rotary Fly Tying dot Com (turkey flat wing).

Tying videos

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