The Top 8 Blue Wing Olive Dry Fly Patterns of 2026
Words by House of Fly
Whether you call them BWOs, Baetis, olives, slate wings or anything else, read this article, buy these flies, and you are ready for the first solid mayfly hatch of the season. Right?
IF IT WERE ONLY SO SIMPLE
Our Top 8 list is just a collection of opinions based on fishing conditions that we have experienced in our neck of the woods. Things could be entirely different where you live and fish. Also important to note, our list of the top BWO patterns strictly consists of flies that are specifically tied to match BWOs. So, we didn’t consider general attractor flies, like the Parachute Adams and Purple Haze, which very commonly are used to represent a BWO mayfly.
Yes, we do know people who might say, “All you need is a Parachute Adams.” If that is you, for one, I’m not sure why you found the title of this article interesting. And two, you could be right. But many of our opinions are based on our experiences on tailwater fisheries, like Montana’s Missouri River, where precision casts, perfect dead-drifts, and silhouetted flies matter a lot. These fish are picky.
In most instances, especially out West, these patterns should work well on any river you choose to fish. So here it is, one through eight in no exact order, our most important BWO mayfly patterns in 2026. Full disclosure: We set out to build a Top 10 list but, ultimately, we landed on these eight with confidence.
1. Todd Smith's Brianne Dun
Maybe you’ve never heard of Todd Smith, and that would not be a surprise as there is very little information about him. We know him from an article found on Rainy’s Flies’ website: he was born in 1973 near Idaho Falls and has tied since a very early age. Smith is a commercial tyer who is currently living in Island Park, Idaho, and like many famous Henry’s Fork fly tyers he specializes in the use of CDC and other natural materials. The Brianne Dun is no exception, and we love this fly. It is easy to see, profiles perfectly, and floats very well. We like it so much we have it custom tied exclusively for House of Fly. P.S. no worries: all royalties go to Smith. This is our #1 selling BWO pattern at The Trout Shop in Craig, MT.
2. Shane Stalcup's No Hackle BWO
This is a dicey one for a couple reasons. Stalcup didn’t invent the No Hackle, and his version of the No Hackle has hackle on it. In our Nerdom world, you just can’t do those things. While I normally would never count a fly that has a slight riff from a very famous pattern, I just like this version a lot. And the commercial version tied by Solitude is just too good. Stalcup was an amazing fly tyer and a student of the “Godfather” of mayflies, Rene Harrop. Unfortunately, Stalcup left the world way too early at age 48, but his flies were far ahead of his time, and many are still top choices in our fly bins. Stalcup was one of the all-time greats in fly design.
3. Matt Pederson’s 401K Baetis
I’ve gotten to know Matt over the past few years. He is local to our fly shop in Craig, Montana, and one of the top guides on the Missouri River. He comes across as a very laid-back dude, often stopping in the shop to talk about everyday stuff, but he always has a fistful of materials he’s tinkering with from the back fly tying room. However, start asking him some detailed questions about flies and Matt turns into a mad scientist. The 401K Baetis is sparse, easy to see, and it’s tied with both CDC and hackle, which assures it will float well.
4. Bob Quigley’s Film Critic
This is everyone’s favorite BWO emerger. Interestingly, while I deeply respect the late Bob Quigley and his flies, the dubbing ball under the hackle stacker-style wing drives me crazy. The solution, for me at least, is easy: brush out that bottom ball of dubbing and this fly turns into a deadly pattern that floats extremely well, sits low in the water column, and imitates a shucking BWO mayfly. What I love about Quigley’s fly-tying style is identical to why I love Gary LaFontaine’s tying style--both legendary fly tyers always challenged conventional wisdom and taught us new ways to approach our vise.
5. Ken Morrish’s May Day
If you are looking for a stealthy mayfly that is durable, can be dunked in flotant, and will float all day, this is the one. The May Day is tied by Oregonian and travel buff Ken Morrish, and designed with tailwaters and stealthy presentations in mind. Still, it uses a hackle-stacker wing and a synthetic post for a low-riding, but high-floating silhouette.
6. Craig Mathew’s CDC Sparkle Dun
While it’s difficult to say who created the sparkle dun style wing on a fly, Craig Mathew’s is most often credited with the pattern. For sure, he was the one to adapt and popularize the Sparkle Dun, bringing it to the western fly fisher’s attention through various books, including one of our all time favorites, Fishing Yellowstone Hatches. We love the original Sparkle Dun, but the CDC version still fills a spot in my tailwater BWO selection. The CDC version sits low on the water and, due to the wing style, when viewed from below it nearly perfectly represents a spent-winged BWO. Mathews is one of the pioneers of West Yellowstone fly fishing and is well known for developing many famous fly patterns for the western Rockies, along with the patterns he designed for saltwater expeditions in Belize.
7. Rene Harrop’s CDC Thorax Baetis
Rene Harrop, aka “The Trout Hunter,” of the Henry’s Fork River in Island Park, Idaho, will always make this list. It is difficult to choose just one bug from Harrop’s massive collection of mayfly patterns. But, if you have to choose, the CDC Thorax is a classic and many times it’s still my first choice when I hit the water to match blue-wing olives. I like the simplicity of the hackle cut on the bottom, which gives the fly a realistic look and allows it to still ride low as compared to a hackle-stacker style wing. The smooth, quilled-body shape and color look nearly perfect, and the grey, dun-colored CDC wing lands soft and fools fish.
8. Rene Harrop’s Last Chance Cripple BWO
Okay, we couldn’t choose just one Harrop pattern and had to add at least one more. Although Harrop’s Last Chance Cripple is probably even more popular in its PMD version, the BWO version is a great option to match crippled Baetis. The main reason for choosing this cripple over many others is the use of grey, dun-colored CDC instead of synthetic or white wings used on many other patterns. The CDC is the correct and natural color of the actual fly; the pattern lands softly, floats well, and fishes great as a single fly or off the back of a spent or dun BWO.
Coming Soon - The Flying V
"I’ve learned a lot about fishing BWOs by using the aforementioned eight fly patterns, and I have unlimited respect for mayfly greats, like Harrop, Lawson, Stalcup, Smith, Quigley, Morrish and many others.
"To continue the evolution of these patterns I took it upon myself to create a new design that will be available this season called The Flying V. The Flying V is a spinoff of my favorite parts of the legendary patterns listed above. Check out the fly-tying video below and check back at House of Fly for this new pattern coming out soon." - Sam Wike
Let us know which of the Top 8 you would have put on this list or what you think we missed. We love to banter about flies and their uses and the reasons for their successes or failures. So, give us a shout and join the conversation. info@houseoffly.com