Overview
This Charlie Craven pattern from Charlie's Fly Box demonstrates a traditional approach to mayfly dun imitations. The Hair Wing Dun bridges the gap between comparadun-style patterns and traditional hackled dries, incorporating elements of both. The dun-colored spade hackle tail provides proper support and a realistic mayfly profile, while the deer hair wing creates an unmistakable silhouette that fish recognize as food. The sparse hackle allows the fly to sit properly in the surface film.
Related patterns
Behavior & presentation
- Natural Behavior
- Freshly emerged blue-winged olive mayflies exhibit characteristic slow, deliberate wing drying on the water surface in early season coldwater conditions. These compact mayflies require extended surface time due to lower air temperatures, becoming progressively more active as wing structural integrity develops.
- Where Trout Eat It
- Trout sip this in tailwaters and freestones during blue-winged olive emergences when cold water temperatures slow wing drying.
- How to Fish It
- Dead drift through feeding lanes on 9-12 foot leaders tapering to 5X-6X. The body rides partially submerged in the film like a natural dun.
- Best Water
- Colorado tailwaters like the South Platte during BWO hatches. Target current seams and runs where duns drift predictably.
- Strike Type
- Fish rise to the deer hair wing with characteristic mayfly feeding rhythm, creating expanding rings in current seams; lift the rod steadily when the wing disappears to hook selective risers.
Fishing strategy
- Rigging Suggestions
- Fish on a 9-12 foot leader tapering to 5X-6X tippet for delicate presentations. The deer hair wing provides enough buoyancy for light dry-dropper rigs with small nymphs.
- Seasonal Timing
- through fall mayfly hatches, particularly during blue winged olive (Baetis) emergences. The color scheme matches BWO hatches perfectly but can be tied in various colors to match other mayflies.
- Pro Tips
- The combination of deer hair wing and sparse hackle ensures the fly rides properly in the surface film with the body partially submerged like a natural dun.
Where to fish it
Rivers anglers pair with this fly, with local shops that stock it.
River details and fly shops from River & Run, our sister site.
Entomology
Freshly emerged blue-winged olive mayflies exhibit characteristic slow, deliberate wing drying on the water surface in early season coldwater conditions. These compact mayflies require extended surface time due to lower air temperatures, becoming progressively more active as wing structural integrity develops. Their olive-gray coloration provides camouflage against silty substrates, but their predictable spring and fall emergence periods make them anticipated prey that fish actively seek despite subdued appearance.
- Order
- Ephemeroptera
- Family
- Baetidae
- Common name
- Blue-Winged Olive
- Organism
- insect
- Life stage
- adult
Pattern details
- Moving Water
- Rocky Mountain
- dead-drift
- baetis-hatch
- classic
- low-clear-water
- tailwater
- freestone
