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Blue Wing OliveDry Flyintermediate

Midwest & Driftless

Blue Wing Olive

$2.95

Available Sizes#16 - #22
Color Variations
Dun GrayOlive Gray

Baetis mayflies hatch when the weather is miserable, which in the Driftless means you will be standing in drizzle feeling sorry for yourself right until the first trout rises. Then every trout rises. This pattern matches the little blue-gray sailboats that drift down spring creeks by the thousands, and the trout eat them with the methodical precision of someone working through a buffet line.

Quick Facts

TypeDry Fly
Difficultyintermediate
SeasonsSpring, Fall, Winter
Target SpeciesBrown Trout, Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout
Sizes#16 - #22
Best LocationsTimber Coulee Creek, WI; Whitewater River, MN; Bennett Spring, MO

Where to Fish It

Timber Coulee Creek

WI · Spring Creek

Whitewater River

MN · Spring Creek

Bennett Spring

MO · Spring Creek

Map unavailable. Locations for Blue Wing Olive: Timber Coulee Creek, WI; Whitewater River, MN; Bennett Spring, MO

Related Reading

region guide

Driftless Area: Spring Creek Paradise

Tucked into the unglaciated hills of southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, and northeastern Iowa lies the Driftless Area — a landscape of cold spring creeks, limestone bluffs, and wild trout that rivals any destination in the country. This is the complete guide to fishing the Driftless.

seasonal playbook

The Spring Playbook: First Hatches to Full Send

Spring is the most dynamic season in fly fishing — water temperatures swing daily, hatches emerge in waves, and fish that have been dormant for months begin feeding with increasing urgency. This is your region-by-region playbook for fishing the awakening.

hatch guide

The Complete Guide to Mayfly Hatches

Mayflies are the foundation of trout-stream entomology. This guide covers every major hatch — BWOs, PMDs, Green Drakes, Sulphurs, Tricos, and Hendricksons — with the biology, timing, and fly selections you need to fish them effectively across the country.

hatch guide

The Hex Hatch: After Dark on the Great Lakes

The Hex hatch is the defining event of Great Lakes fly fishing — a massive emergence of North America's largest mayfly that happens after dark and brings the biggest brown trout of the year to the surface. This is how to prepare for, find, and fish the most anticipated hatch in the Midwest.

hatch guide

Emerger Patterns: Fishing the In-Between

Trout eat more insects during emergence than at any other stage. Emerger patterns — flies that imitate the critical moment when a nymph transforms into an adult in the surface film — are the most consistently effective dry flies in fly fishing. Here is the science and the technique behind fishing the in-between.

technique

Nymph or Dry? The Decision That Changes Everything

Ninety percent of a trout's diet is consumed subsurface. Yet ninety percent of the magazine covers show a dry fly floating on calm water. The decision between nymphing and dry-fly fishing isn't about preference — it's about reading the situation and making the choice that puts your fly where the fish are actually feeding.

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