Larry L wrote:


I also like Olives/"Baetis" a lot. It's the first and last hatch of the
year here in Colorado and lasts much longer than any other hatch, by
far. When the hatch first starts up, it takes the fish awhile to get
onto the dries. Once they do, the fish are easy at first but as the
hatch goes on over a number of weeks, the fish get tougher and tougher.
It's the only hatch that I feel I need to carry a range of different
flies here in CO.

I'm definitely no entomologist but I think there are a number of
different mayflies that are lumped into what fishermen call "Baetis" -
any little gray mayfly is a "Baetis". Here in Colorado, "Baetis" will
range in size from an 18 to a 24, body color will range from a creamy
pale olive to a dark gray, wings will vary in color from almost clear to
a slate gray.

I know this hatch/hatches better than any other because I've had much
more opportunity to fish it. Some of the things I learned:

The flies are smaller than they look on the water. Most people here in
CO fish them with an 18. I've seen few flies that are 18's most are 20's
and 22's.

On cloudy and inclement days, there are MANY more flies on the water
than on sunny ones.

Once the hatch has been going on for a week or more and the sky is
overcast, some of the best fish will move into very shallow water at the
head of pools to feed. It's very hard to distinguish their rise form
from a small fish but sometimes you can see them "push" water as they
move to feed. Little fish don't "push" much water. If you don't spook
them, these are very catchable fish. They're only there as long as the
hatch is strong and they're only there to feed.

As the hatch goes on, the fish get tougher and different fish key onto
different things. If I find a tough fish, first I'll go down in size. If
that doesn't work, I'll change the type of fly tie hackled, parachute, no
hackle or an emerger. The only time I bother with color is if the hatch
is particularly light or dark. Usually by the time I get to that point
the fish is put down.

My favorite fly for the hatch is a CDC comparadun with either a quill or
thread body, 3 spread filarabits? for a tail and a lightly dubbed
thorax. I also tie a sparse parachute with the same body and tail and a
standard hackle fly. For an emerger I either use an RS2 style fly with a
CDC wing or I just cut back the wing on one of the CDC dries. On this
hatch, I believe one of these flies in the right size will take almost
any surface feeding fish with a good presentation.

Willi