BWO parachute

[Rbull]

what is the parachute for and when should you use one. Sounds like I'm setting myself up for a joke. But I mean on a BWO and such.

 

[JackM]

A "parachute" is the generic name for a style of dry fly. Rather than having hackle wound around the hook shank, perpendicular to the shank, the hackle is tied above and parallel to the shank around a post made of hair or foam or other materials.

Two things seem to be accomplished by this style of dry fly:

1. The fly's body sits in the surface film, rather than hovering above the surface; and

2. The hackle tips leave a more realistic impression on the surface as viewed by the trout below.

Some people prefer parachutes anytime trout are surface feeding. Others feel they are most effective when trout are grabbing the emerging or "stillborn" duns. I have found them to be effective also during spinner falls. I usually carry typical "catskill" duns and parachutes and if one isn't working, I'll try the other.

Trout are stupid and they do stupid things for stupid reasons, so you have to be versatile.

 

[bede]

Parachutes patterns are often easier to see on the water, especially in low light.

As far as sitting in the film/replicating the emerger, the compradun is the way to go.

 

[Padraic]

A Blue Winged Olive is a mayfly. And here is more than you need to know about that bug: http://www.troutnut.com/common-name/8/Blue-Winged-Olives They should be active through April, so definately carry some pheasant tails, BWO parachutes and rusty spinners in size 18 through the end of that month.

Here's a link to the Orvis page where they sell the fly (not that I recommend them, it's just a good picture) http://www.orvis.com/store/product_directory_tnail.asp?dir_id=1236&Group_ID=1240&cat_id=5837&subcat_id=7148
The link is to all their BWO dries. The parachute is in the top right. I just thought you might want to see how many BWO's they sell... three pages... for the dries! Ya only need the three patterns if you ask me! :-D

 

[Wmass]

I will add just a little to the excellent posts above.

In my experience the Blue Winged Olive parachute makes a great pattern for delicate presentation or realism. I have to say that this fly is my "go to fly" for tough fish or when nothing else is working. I use it in sizes from 16-22.

 

[Padraic]

I'm going to contradict myself. Jack M has a point about the need for both parachute and the traditional catskill tie. Sometimes the trout will seem to go after the one style and not the other. having some Adamses would be a good idea also. The Adams is a good fly to have in any case, but I seem to do rather well with it during BWO hatches.

 

[MattBoyer]

JackM wrote:
Trout are stupid and they do stupid things for stupid reasons, so you have to be versatile.

It's a bit of a hijack, but that reminds me of what a buddy of mine says, probably too frequently, when we are having a rough fishing day. They are the 3 rules of fishing.

1. Fish are relatively dumb.
2. Fish will eat what they are hungry for and when they are hungry.
3. When in doubt, refer to rules 1 and 2

Sorry, it just seemed close to relevant.

Boyer