Canon Greenwell's 1854 olive imitation, still the standard answer to medium olives everywhere they hatch. Waxed yellow silk that turns dirty olive, a gold-ribbed body, furnace hackle, and a slate wing — a fly so successful its hackle color now carries its name.
1. Thread — Attach well-waxed yellow thread behind the eye; the wax darkens it toward olive. Wrap a slim base to the bend.
2. Rib — Tie in fine gold wire at the bend.
3. Body — Wrap the waxed thread in touching turns to the 2/3 point for a slim olive body. Counter-wind the gold rib. Tie off.
4. Hackle — Tie in a furnace (Greenwell) hackle and wind 2 turns as a collar. Sweep the fibers back.
5. Wing — Cut two matched slips from gray mallard wing quills. Tie in as a paired upright-slanting wet-fly wing to the bend.
6. Head — Neat head, whip finish, cement.
hook
thread
rib
hackle
wing
Baetis vernus
Deleatidium spp.
