PERFECT PARTNERS
Rob Denson matches everpresent olive to complementary shades and materials in six superb patterns
OLIVE IS A SPECIAL COLOUR, dearly beloved by all fly-fishers and fl-ytyers around the globe, and with good reason. If one studies colours in the trout’s menu, the ubiquity of olive and shades thereof quickly becomes apparent, occurring in everything from buzzers, upwinged nymphs and adults to terrestrials and fry. And it's precisely because olive is such a natural, commonly occurring colour that it is often trusted to stand alone in fly patterns to work its magic with few if any embellishments.
When other colours are matched with olive, they’re usually closely related hues chosen to complement rather than contrast, such as yellow, brown and gold. For fishing purposes, rich, bold colours that contrast and work well with olive are few and far between, but there are one or two that I wouldn't want to be without, such as orange, red and a handful of closely related shades such as West of Ireland golden olive, copper olive (both of which are complete misnomers, by the way, containing no olive whatsoever) and sunburst. Somewhat paradoxically, olive doesn't occur frequently in our favourite natural fly-tying materials, such as feathers, fur and hair, but fortunately, these materials all dye beautifully and produce stunning, natural-looking and confidenc-einspiring materials. Furnish yourself with a good selection of these materials and try a few of the following flies. You’ll be glad you did.
DRY GR EEN WELL
Hook Size 12-14 B170 or equivalent Thread Light olive Rib Gold wire Body Light olive tying thread Wing Blackbird secondary Hackle Greenwell or furnace cock
It’s hard to see past the combination of olive, gold and black, and with good reason. Dry, wet or nymph, the combination was fooling fish long before this Greenwell’s Glory dry-fly was devised. As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it; and it’s a combination that picks itself time and time again in my tying.
OLIVE & OR ANGE CORMOR ANT
Hook Size 10-12 B175 Thread Black UTC 70 Rib Glo-Brite fluorescent floss No.6 hot orange Body Medium olive seal’s fur Wing Medium olive and orange marabou Hackle Olive hen Cheeks Jungle cock
As I’ve already mentioned, I try to keep things on the quiet side when using olive, but there is one exception that I love to roll out on special occasions: olive and orange. This hackled Cormorant benefits from the splash of bright orange in the wing and the fluorescent hot orange rib, proving particularly effective for me in bright, warm, spring weather when rainbow trout are feeding high in the water.
SOOTY OLIVE DABBLER
Hook Size 10-12 Fulling Mill Competition Heavyweight Thread Brown olive UTC 70 Tail Dyed olive or natural bronze mallard Rib Semperfli red holographic Body So
