The Barred Baetis Using a Few New Materials

     Let me start by wishing my readers a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and I hope Santa brought you all some shiny new tackle to set-up or some new tying materials to help you combat cabin fever! Under my tree Christmas morning were piles of new materials which I'll be using this year to develop new patterns and spice up old favorites!

     The first two materials I've gotten around to using are the "Barred Mayfly Tails" and "Barred CDC" from Hareline. Before I go into the materials and the fly I have to give a shout out to Casters Online Flyshop. I had ordered the Mayfly Tails in Light Dun but was sent the Barred CDC in Light Dun, which I hadn't ordered, by accident! An honest mistake so I called Casters who I had never shopped with before until now. They picked right up when I called and apologized for the mix-up. Not only did they send out the Mayfly Tails right after I talked to them but also told me to go ahead and keep the CDC they had sent by mistake! I will definitely be ordering from them again soon! 

     One thing I will say about ordering materials as opposed to going to a flyshop and picking them out yourself is that what you get may be different than what is pictured. The Barred Mayfly Tails for instance are a darker light dun than I expected and the Barring on the CDC and the Mayfly Tails is not as well defined in person as it is in the photo. This is something to keep in mind when selecting materials especially natural ones that are not all created equal.

     With that being said here's a small CDC parachute Blue Winged Olive Dun that I think looks great with the new tails and CDC. BWO's are somewhat "dismal" little bugs with their smokey wings and drab olive bodies which is fitting since they tend to hatch on gray and gloomy days. They are important year round and even now during the winter they can be counted on to bring trout to the surface. Aside from Midges, and Black Winter Stoneflies (which I'll be covering in another post), BWO hatches can provide a nice change of pace from nymphing for instance even in the colder months.               

     Having a good selection of standard hackled parachute patterns in your box is always a good idea but having a few with CDC hackle is an even better one. Save those bushy hackled flies for rough water and burly mayfly species like Hendrickson's. For me, the soft and delicate footprint of the CDC hackle suits delicate little bugs like BWO's best. CDC Parachute flies alight gently on the surface and compliment the slow methodical fishing of winter beautifully.

Hook: Standard Dry Fly sz.18(shown)-24

Thread: Uni 8/0 in Olive Dun

Tails: Hareline Barred Mayfly Tails in Light Dun, 4 split 

Abdomen: Olive Stripped Peacock Quill coated with CCG Hydro

Thorax: BWO Superfine Dubbing

Wing/Post: Poly-Yarn in Light Dun

Hackle: Hareline Barred CDC in Light Dun, spun with split thread technique

NOTES: As I mentioned above the Barring isn't as prominent as I would like and is also hard to see in the photo. I have clipped the hackle in the front and back also.