Spring Olive

The Spring Olive is a terrific Baetis (Mayfly) nymph pattern that - as the name suggests - works great in the Spring, as well as other times of the year. Begin with olive thread, securing it to your hook. For the tails, tie in some turkey wing feather fibers that have been dyed olive. The tips of these fibers will serve as your tail. Try to keep them about the length of the hook shank or a bit shorter. Also tie in a piece of gold wire that will be used for ribbing and to increase the durability of the fly (I'm using a medium wire here, as I'm tying on a size 12 hook) . Once the tail and wire is secure at the bend of the hook, turn to the same olive dyed turkey - tying it in by the tips - to create the abdomen of the fly. As you wrap these fibers, try to keep them from twisting so they will lay flat and create a tapered abdomen. Once done and secured where the thorax will begin, take evenly spaced wraps of the gold wire to the same point you tied off the turkey fibers, tie it off, and then remove it. Next, tie in a piece of olive scudback material back where your thorax begins and your abdomen ends (I'm using a piece 1/8th inch in width). This will form your wing case. Use olive rabbit dubbing to create a beefy thorax, ensuring you are leaving enough space behind the hook eye to add the legs and finish the fly. For the legs, olive dyed Hungarian Partridge will work nicely. Prepare a neck feather by cutting out the tip, leaving an equal number of fibers on each side of the feather's stem that will form the legs. Secure the partridge with the fibers straddling either side of the fly. Next, pull and stretch your scudback wing case over the center top of the fly and secure it in place. This not only creates your wing case, but it will also help keep your partridge fiber legs nicely separated. Once you have built a nice head behind the eye with your thread, whip finish and remove the thread. I like to use a dubbing brush to tease out a few of the rabbit dubbing fibers underneath the thorax. This will give the fly a buggier look. With that, you are done with the Spring Olive.