how to fish tiny BWOs « currentseams.com

We’re preparing to host a big family reunion, so no fishing for me today. I hope you’ve been able to get out — I have, and the cooler weather this week has been a welcome respite from the relentless cycle of heat and humidity.

To the salt: A shout out to The Saltwater Edge for their Local Singles Program. Even if you’re not a spin angler, you can take a lesson from its energy — reducing striped bass C&R mortality — by mashing down the barbs on your flies. It really makes a difference. Earlier this month on Block Island, I deep hooked two bass on Big Eelie patterns. in both cases, the hook came out with ridiculous ease, with no blood nor visible damage, because I was fishing barbless. Come to think of it, it’s getting close to time to tie up some…nah, we’ll wait…

The Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River book project process continues. I’ll be out on the river a lot this week, both guiding, fishing, and shooting photos. If you see me, please come say hello.

Writing-wise, I’m working on the hatches section, and choosing flies to match. It just occurred to me that most of what gets the attention this time of year is either large or yellowish. Then I remembered, how many times have I seen tiny BWOs (20-26) in the air? How many times has a fishless outing turned because I started fishing a Tiny BWO parachute? The answer is: many. Tiny BWOs may not be the sexiest hatch in midsummer, but they are important. Now, let’s also not forget the attenuata…or the egg-laying caddis…

Catch ’em up.

It’s fall on the Farmington, and that means it’s time for tiny Blue-Winged Olives. Depending on your point-of-view, this hatch can be a blast or a scourge. The flies are small (20-26), but when conditions are right (frequently overcast, damp days), the trout will line up and sip them for hours.

So, what do you do when you’ve got the hatch matched, the right leader/tippet (12-15 feet is a good length to start), your presentation is spot on a feeding lane, drift is drag-free, and you get…nothing? Or worse, a refusal? It might be that you’ve got the wrong fly. Experience has taught me that sometimes the same size fly in a different style makes all the difference. So carry a bunch of different style dries, and enjoy the tiny BWOs of fall.

My tiny BWO dry fly arsenal includes, from left, comparadun, comparadun with Z-lon shuck, parachute, Pat Torrey’s Tiny BWO soft hackle, and foam wing. The trout sometimes favor one of these over another, and the only way to figure it out is to cycle through patterns. By the way, this concept applies to other tiny hatches, like midges.