Bugs - The Baetis "Blue Wing Olive"

The last few times that I've fished the Lower Yuba River I have run into a fairly strong hatch of Blue Wing Olives or BWO's as we affectionatly call them, most of the time I call them "those darned BWO's". I've seen them coming off, but can I catch one of the fish that are eating them. Forget-about-it. I'm usually rigged up with my 6 weight and nymphs, shot and all when I run into a hatch. So I'm not really set up right to start casting dries, emergers, cripples, or soft hackles like I should be. I usually just stand on the banks and give my buddies a hard time about not being able to hook something. A single person peanut gallery so to speak.

Anyway, this brings me to thinking about what I should be attempting to do when the BWO's start coming off and start catching some fish instead of laughing at my buddies.

The Blue Wing Olives

Blue wing olive mayflies look like tiny, greenish-gray sailboats on the water to us, but they look like lunch to the fish in the Yuba River. These bugs often have greenish bodies and wings that are light gray to almost black. The photo below is a BWO "Baetis" Dun.

The Blue wing olive hatch progresses with the bugs swimming to the surface of the river, they then split their nymphal shells and emerge as winged insects. These newly hatched winged insects are called duns.

I really believe that the Blue wing olives are a prime trout food from fall through spring and we should prepare for this hatch. This gives us anglers a good chance to catch rising fish during this period. The baetis nymphs can be from size 18 to as small as size 24. I always seem to do better with soft hackles, emergers and cripples although this is what I tend to have the most confidence in.


If it's cold and wet and cloudy, and you see fish rising, there's a good chance that the trout are up and feeding on blue wing olive duns - usually during the warmest time of the day. My last few trips to the river have confirmed this. I have also noticed a BWO "Baetis" spinner fall. See photo of a BWO spinner below.



____________________________________________

Entomology

Blue Wing Olive Mayfly

Scientific Names: Family Baetidae, genera Baetis, Diphetor, Acentrella, Plauditus; Family Ephemerellidae, genus Attenella

Common Names: Blue-winged olive, tiny olive, BWO, pseudo

Nymph Size - 4 to 12 mm (3/16" to 1/2")

Nymph Color - Dark Brown, Olive Brown, Olive

Dun Size - 4 to 10 mm (3/16" to 3/8")

Dun Color - Wing Smokey, abdomen Olive to Olive Brown

Spinner Size - 4 to 12 mm (3/16" to 1/2")

Spinner Color - Wing Clear. Abdomen Olive Brown to Reddish Brown

________________________________________________

Fishing Blue Wing Olive Dry Flies

For fishing the Lower Yuba River or any river that has hatches of BWO's the experts say we should carry dry flies that range from size 16 all the way down to a tiny size 24.

Size 24, you've got to be kidding! I am kidding, I don't think I can see a 24 let alone tie one on. We may not be able tie them this small, but they are there and the sharp-eyed, picky trout can easily find them.

I've read that fishing the wrong size fly will often find us watching in frustration as feeding fish ignore our offerings. So we must learn how and attempt to fish smaller patterns.

A good tip is to use two flies when you find it necessary to fish and match tiny dry flies. Take your time and wade as closely as possible to the rising fish and then tie a size 18 fly and then add a dropper using a smaller fly, a 22 or even a 24. It's easy to spot the big - size 18 blue wing olive fly and then spot the smaller size 22 fly.

Good dry flies for blue wing olive dun hatches are: Sparkle Duns, Comparaduns and Hair-wing duns. A light tippet - 5X for larger flies and 6X for flies size 18 and smaller - brings more fish to the fly. Learn to use and tie good knots with flurocarbon.

__________________________________________

Dry Flies for the BWO

Parachute Baetis - 18, 20, 22









Baetis Compradun - 18, 20, 22










CDC Baetis - 18, 20, 23



______________________________________________
Fishing Nymphs and Emergers

Trout will start eating nymphs a hour or more before the duns hatch. Try to pay attention to the timing of the hatch when the duns are coming off. Time your nymphing to the pre-emergence.

The BWO bugs, which swim like tiny fish, rise toward the surface and then sink back down.

When fishing a BWO nymph fly in shallow riffles or runs prior to the hatch, use nymphs, such as Pheasant Tails, Hare's Ears and Copper Johns in sizes matching the naturals. If you are specifically targeting the BWO's rigg with a small strike indicator - a small dry fly or stick-on piece of foam on the leader. This will help detect when the fish have taken the fly.

Once the hatch gets going, some emerging bugs will get stuck while climbing out of the nymphal skin at the surface. An emerger fly - such as an RS2 or a CDC Emerger - hook fish that are locked into eating cripples. Trout often lock onto cripples during the hatch and ignore the upright-winged duns.

It's a good idea to change to an emerger if duns are on the water and the trout aren't rising to a dry fly. Watch the rise forms or bring a small pair of binoculars to determine of the fish are taking the emergers or duns on the surface.

Nymphs

Pale Baetis Nymph - 18, 20, 22









Hot Spot Pheasant Tail - 18, 20, 22




__________________________________________
Emergers & Cripples

Baetis Cripple - 18, 20, 22











Quigley's Marabou Cripple 18, 20, 22










Barr's Emerger - 18, 20, 22









CDC Bubble Emerger - 18, 20, 22











Diving Baetis - 18, 20, 22







______________________________________________

Blue Wing Olive Spinners

I've also read about the "Blue Wing Olive Spinner Secret". Most anglers miss the secret part of the blue wing olive hatch. The adult blue wing olives that survive the trout fly off to streamside brush and molt into the sexually mature insect, which is called a spinner. Spinners have bright, clear wings and big eyes.

Within 24 hours, the spinners mate and fly to the river's surface to lay eggs and die.

On many days, the spinners land on the water's surface at the same time the immature nymphs hatch into duns. Anglers see the upright wings of the duns - and tie on a dry fly with an upright wing.

Few anglers see the spinners - with clear, almost invisible wings - sprawled flat on the surface at the same time.

But the trout - especially the bigger, warier fish - see them just fine, and they lock onto the safer, easier prey.

Tie on a spinner - such as a Hackle Spinner - and watch tough trout get much easier!

___________________________________________

BWO Spinner Pattern


CDC Biot Spinner - 18, 20















__________________________________________________

Well I think after that I'll be a little more prepared for those pesky BWO's the next time I encounter them. Good Luck and have some fun out there!



Clay

The Airflo Skagit Switch Line Review

Whoever came up with the idea of Switch Rods was had his head on straight. Someone came up with the idea to build a rod that can do everything from Spey casting to overhead casting. It would be the perfect rod for small and medium sized rivers. For those of us that have purchased one we've had a heck of a time figuring out what to line them with. I've about tried them all. The rod builders sold the rods but didn't really have the lines to match them with. How many of you have been throwing a Rio Indicator line two or threes line weights over. Get the picture. I checked out Larimer Outfitters' website and got the story as to how the Airflo Skagit Switch line came about.

The Airflow Skagit Switch Story ( from http://www.larimeroutfitters.com )

Tom Larimer, who is on the Airflo design team, approached Tim Rajeff, (the US distributor for Airflo fly lines) with the problem we were all having with other switch lines on the market. Switch rods are designed more like a traditional single hand rod taper, meaning that they are fast in the butt section and flex progressively through the tip giving the caster the ability to overhead cast them. However, a Spey rod taper is typically slower in the butt section and faster through the tip section. This allows the caster to form the D-Loop and change the direction of the cast without the rod wanting to unload too quickly. The load is sustained through the whole casting cycle until the cast goes outbound. It’s the reason why Spey casting feels so good!

Because switch rods want to unload so quickly, Airflo wanted to find a way to slow them down giving the caster the same sensation they get from their traditional Spey rod. Until now, there hasn't been a fly line that sustained the load on the faster tapers of most switch rods. This is why it’s been difficult (and not fun) to perform double Speys and snap-T casts with the lines currently on the market. For those of you that have tried switch rods with what's been available, you’ve probably noticed “touch and go casts” like single Speys and snake rolls work all right. However, if you want to jack a snap-T with a big sink-tip and a heavy fly it isn't very fun.

The Result the Airflo Skagit Switch Line

After a lot of thought and a couple of prototypes, Airflo came up with the solution to the switch rod  lining problem.

• The new Airflo Skagit Switch line has a huge rear diameter and two-foot rear taper. This helps sustain the load on the rod giving the caster that sweet feeling of Spey casting we all have been waiting for. 
• The front taper is a big 7’ wedge that turns over your biggest tips and heaviest flies. 
• This line was built to make switch rods not only fun to cast, but to make them legitimate fishing tools.
• The heads go from 540 grains down to 360 grains in 30 grain increments. 
• Although Airflo built this line for anglers chasing steelhead and salmon, the smaller sizes are perfect for trout and smallmouth anglers looking to swing streamers on switch rods. 
• All of the heads are marked on the loop sleeve telling you what the line is and the grain weight. 
• As a general rule of thumb, go 30 grains lighter than what you normally fish in a Skagit Compact. 

According to Tom Larimer "If you’re a fan of the Airflo Skagit Compact, you will love this line!" 

Airflo Rage Compact Review

I met with Jason Lozano, the Airflo rep, a while back and he said that the new Rage Compact is really taking off.  I was a little confused as the new Rage Compact is considered a Skagit head so what's the difference between the Rage and the standard Skagit Compact? I did some research at Deneki.com and came up with some information to share. Let me try to explain it.

The designers at Airflo had already come up with four basic head designs. Three which have been around awhile and the Skagit Switch which is relatively new.

1. The good old Skagit Compact was designed for for sink-tip fishing, like T-8, T-11, and T-14 sink tips.
2. The Scandi Compact was designed for for finesse dry line work, and light tips, primarily the ones that are part floating and part sink tip.
3. The Tactical Steelhead for those that appreciate a longer casting stroke and want the versitility of a multi-tip line.
4. And the new Skagit Switch, which is designed as a sink-tip line for switch rods and shorter Spey rods. I'll explain this new line in another post. 

However, the Airflo line designers felt there was a void in the line-up.

The Rage Compact Was Conceived.

Airflo came up with the idea of the Rage Compact. Their thoughts on the Rage were that they needed an additional and different design for floating line presentations. The Scandi heads, which covers finesse dry line work, are great for line speed and tight loops. However, Scandi heads have their faults.First, they suck in the wind. The long, delicate front taper which gives Scandi's their finesse-like feel, crumbles in even a modest breeze. The other problem with Scandi heads is they struggle to turn-over skating flies and large wet flies. There just isn't enough mass in the front of the line to give the caster sufficient turn-over. Another shortcoming is that most anglers struggle when they switch from their Skagit to their Scandi. I know I do. The Skagit versus the Scandi lines cast so dramatically different. 

Tom Larimer with the blessings of Tim Rajeff, the US distributer of Airflo and over-all casting guru designed the new Rage Compact. Tom Larimer with the help of the Rajeff design team came up with a Spey line built for surface and near-surface presentations that cast like a Skagit but still had the finesse of a Scandi. The new Airflo Rage Compact is the perfect floating line to compliment your good old Skagit Compact. This is purported to be the best floating spey line Airflo has ever come up with.

Lining Your Rod  With a Rage Compact

To determine the correct weight to choose and as a general rule of thumb, line your rod 30 grains lighter than your Skagit Compact. If you like a faster-livelier feel to your floating head, go 60 grains lighter. Like all of Airflo's Spey heads, the lines comes in 30 grain increments and are available in 360 grains to 600 grains. 

Rigging Your Rod with a Rage Compact

As far as rigging, they recommend using a 10' Airflo Poly Leader with 2' to 4' of tippet. It is also recommended to fish an intermediate leader with skating flies.If you fish shallower rivers in the West, the Rage will easily handle a sinking Poly Leader and an un-weighted fly. It's a great line on rivers where a full blown sink-tip is overkill. It isn't recommended for casting big weighted flies, but it' will cast un-weighted flies or tube flies a mile. 

Try the Rage for Switch Rods!

The Rage also casts great on a switch stick.Line it exactly the same as your Skagit Switch. Just for reference, most #7 weight switch rods are taking a 450 grain head. On a #6 weight, a 390 grain head. 

Airflo's New Loop Labels

A new feature on all Airflo Spey lines that the labeling of line type/size is on the front loop, plus the old color coded system. Now you have an easy way of identifying your Spey lines!

In Summary a Quote from Airflo's Tim Larimer

I think Tom Larimer sums it up by saying, 

"If you love the feel of casting Skagit heads and want a floating line that cuts through the wind, turns over with total ease and doesn't take a PHD. in casting to make it huck, give the new "Rage" a try. I guarantee it will elevate your floating line casting and fishing".