… will be out and about shortly, if they have not already made the scene.
Duck’s Green Drake was a breakthrough original for me last year that served me well on my home water for over two months starting in early June.
This was the first fly that I tied using a viable and easily repeatable technique to incorporate tails ( three moose hairs ) in an extended body furled from antron. It also uses the 9DH hackling method to create both a representative green drake profile …
… and a pretty realistic silhouette from the fishies’ point of view …
This guy was one of the late comers to the party, taking the fly in mid July …
… and this guy wasn’t all that happy about mistaking it for a food item in mid August …
Lots of mileage out of that pattern last year, and looking forward to another good summer with it.
For the “step by step” follow the link to the FOTW article.
The basic pattern, with appropriate color changes, sized down nicely to Mahogany Duns and BWOs later in the year. And it should size up nicely for a really big fly like the Hex.
John,
I hope to hit the big Green Drakes on the Ranch in Last Chance in mid-late June. The hatch has been light and sporadic the last couple years and never lasts very long there,
Thanks, Doug. And you are in the good company of a whole lot of West Slope cutts on my home water.
John
P.S. First chance I get to fish it this year to a decent hatch, I’m gonna clip the hook off behind the barb to see if there’s still enough “keel” effect to fish it pointless.
Ran into something of a mixed hatch late yesterday afternoon with a good number of fishies rising here …
… and the predominant insect was the green drake.
Tied on a Duck’s Green Drake and had at it. This guy …
… actually turned from his lie and chased the fly about 5’ downstream before he caught up with it and ate it.
Unfortunately, a soft rain turned into a downpour that chased me off the water after catching only a couple trouts on the drake pattern. But there will be lots of nice days to fish to this hatch over the next couple months.
