The Blue Dun Nymphs

The patterns shown are for those of you who tie.  For those of you that don't you will find that Blue Winged Olives and Quill Gordons nymphs are well imitated by an Olive Hare's Ear of the appropriate size.  And, for the Blue Quill and Hendrickson you can't go wrong with a Pheasant Tail.  Try either pattern in a beadhead, soft-hackle pattern if you can find them in your local fly shop.  Those of you who tie will notice that three of these patterns are tied on a dry fly hook - that is because these mayflies spend a lot of time in the surface film and you may want to fish these patterns just under the surface.  A heavy wire hook tends to sink them.

Blue Winged Olives are of the family Baetidae, and the following genera: Baetis, Diphetor, Labiobaetis, Acerpenna, and Related genera. Now, make no mistake about it, I don't have any idea what I just typed, but it sure looks good. I'm of the belief that knowing names isn't anywhere near as important as knowing that sometime early in the spring; Blue Winged Olive nymphs are getting ready to hatch.  And, if you are fishing a river or stream in Maine they are probably there.

Spring isn't the only time Blue Winged Olives hatch, bless them, they are the first and last to hatch each season.  However, it is the early hatch we are looking at here.  Look for them to begin hatching when the water is in the low to mid forties (between 11:00 and 4:00) and note, they don't wait for good weather, in fact, they seem to like the rain.  The cold weather habit of theirs leads to long drifts in the surface film by the emerging nymph.  

When the Blue Winged Olives get ready to emerge they almost always suspend just below the surface film to shed there nymphal shucks.  Take advantage of this and fish your pattern as a struggling nymph. These guys will be the vanguard of the "Blue Duns" and, they don't hatch just once, a couple of weeks after you're sure the Blue Winged Olives have stopped and only the Quill Gordons are on the water here come the Blue Winged Olives again. You'll know them, that time of year they are the small ones. Another thing to note about the Blue Winged Olives is that they are the only swimming nymphs of the group.  They can swim with the best of them and so are seldom fished "dead drift" instead, you should bounce that rod tip once in awhile or make short quick strips of your fly line.

Quill Gordon nymphs are big and like the fast water and so live their life there.  They then emerge ON THE BOTTOM or ON THE WAY up to the surface.  This migration is something to remember. It takes place when the water gets into the high 40's & low 50's and will often last into June.

Blue Quills usually pick up right about the same time the Quill Gordons are winding down. They like the water to be well into the 50's for several days running, and usually hatch between 11:00am and 3:00pm.  Remember Blue Quills are small but, their body shape is long and slender which is why the pattern above calls for a 1X long hook. They are crawlers not swimmers and if broken loose from the bottom they drift with the current until they sink back to the bottom.  They live in moderate riffles (seeking pocket water) to slow water. However, if they are found in moderate current when it comes to emergence, the nymphs migrate (read crawl, these are clinger type nymphs and don't swim well) to even slower eddies, backwaters and runs. 

Hendricksons are the rear guard.  The full blown hatch usually follows the Quill Gordon and Blue Quill hatches by a few weeks. But in keeping with the rest of these "Blue Duns" they have sporadic hatches in the mid 40's.  Don't look for the heavy "Hendrickson Hatch" until the water is approaching 55 degrees.  Like the other members of this group the Hendrickson is a clinger nymph and it leaves the fast moving water to hatch in slower water. Hendricksons, however, are more apt to drift than crawl to the slower water and upon reaching slower water will make practice runs from the bottom to the top trying to get the hang of it. Here is an excerpt from Hatches II, by Caucci & Nastasi
"In order to duplicate the behavior of these nymphs, the angler should twitch his imitation when fishing the slower water where the nymphs normally wiggle to the surface.  On faster stretches, the dead-drift method is more imitative of the "motionless" drifting nymphs."
These nymphs avoid temperature changes caused by Side Streams, Tributaries, and Springs, and so are rarely found in Rivers and Streams in areas effected by these influences.