Weekly Fly Tying Tutorial – Skinny Timmy BWO

The Skinny Timmy BWO uses Charlie Craven’s “Timmy” winging technique with a slender thread body, resulting in a delicate mayfly cripple or drowned dun pattern that floats low in the film while being visible and buoyant. The basic template can be tied in any color and tied as large as size-8 and as small as size-24. Try tweaking the pattern with different body materials that preserve the slim profile, especially in larger sizes.

 

This fly can be tied to match any mayfly or midge from sizes #8 or #10 on down to #22–24 using the basic template below. While the tying vid is tied on an oversize hook and with oversize threads for video purposes, the recipe provides the correct hook and materials useful for #16–24 Blue-winged Olive (Baetis, BWO) mayflies.

Skinny Timmy BWO – Recipe

Hook: #16–24 emerger.

Thread #1: 8/0 rusty dun UNI (#16–20) or 16/0 Veevus gray (#22–24).

Rib and Thread #2: 8/0 olive-dun UNI or 16/0 Veevus light olive.

Abdomen: Tying thread #1.

Tails: Medium or dark pardo Coq-de-Leon. Use 5 fibers on #18, more on larger flies, and less on smaller flies (no fewer than 3).

Wings: Silver (light gray) MFC Widow’s Web or similar hot-dyed polypropylene yarn such as EP Trigger Point fibers.

Thorax: gray-olive Superfine dubbing or similar.

Tying Procedure

1. Start gray tying thread about 1/3 of the way back from the eye with several wraps towards the bend.
2. Secure rib (thread #2) using touching turns well down into the bend. Note that this thread should be on a second bobbin.
3. Advance gray thread almost to where the hook bend levels off.
4. Secure tailing fibers with several turns of thread. They should angle downward from the rear of the hook shank at this point.
5. Take 1–2 turns of the thread behind the tails to splay them and cock them so they ride level with the hook shank.
6. Advance thread in touching turns over the tailing fibers to the original starting point. Clip excess tailing material.
7. If desired, build a slight body taper with tying thread. Secure and clip thread #1.
8. Spiral thread #2 forward to rib the gray body. Do not tie off this thread, as it is used to tie the remainder of the fly.
9. Secure a sizable clump of Widow’s Web or similar pale gray poly yarn on top the hook shank. Leave long tags of material facing both forward and rearward.
10. Take several turns forward over the wing, to a point about halfway between the forward end of the abdomen and the hook eye.
11. Split the forward portion of the wing equally to either side of the hook, then secure “spinner-style” to either side using X-wraps followed by a couple turns of thread in front. Do not trim to length yet.
12. Dub a slender thorax from the rear of the wing tie-in point forward to the eye, including X-wraps around the forward “spinner-style” wings.
13. Pull the rearward facing wing forward and secure just behind the eye, leaving a bit of slack to create a bubble wing.
14. Whip finish thread in front of the forward-facing wing, then clip excess.
15. Trim all wings approximately even to the hook shank in length. Then trim the “spinner” wings at a slight rearward angle so their rear fibers are slightly shorter than their forward fibers.

How-To Video

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