Great Olive Winged Drake Nymph

The Great Olive-Winged Drake or the Hexagenia limbata is burrower nymph that can be found in the East, Mid West as well as the West. Sometimes like in Michigan it can be called a different name like Fishflies. The nymphs like most if not all other burrowers, spend most of their lives in the burrows, coming out only to eat at night or to mold which they do a few times a year. They can be found in slow moving waters with a fine sand or silt bottom like lakes.

They emerge by leaving their burrows and swim to the surface. Sometimes they may be seen crawling along the bottom prior to swimming to the surface.

Presentation:

Weight as necessary by adding weight a few inched above the fly. In the slow moving water, fish with the fly directly on the bottom in a dead drift using darting motions. Remember you are trying to mimic the actual movements of the real nymph.

You can also try castinging up and across on the swing and allow the fly to return to the surface at the end of the downstream drift. Stopping the rod tip at the end of the drift will mimic the nymph swimming to the surface to hatch.