Brian's Green Drake
By Brian Schmidt
There are four common green drake species in Western rivers: Drunella grandis, D. doddsi, D. flavilinea, D. coloradensis. The first two are usually lumped together as Green Drakes while the latter two are often referred to as "Flavs" and "slate-winged olives," respectively. Several different sizes of flies are generally required.

In brown colors, this pattern can also be used to match the dun stage of the Brown Drake.

Materials:
Hook: TMC 100 or comparable size 12
Thread: Uni 8/0 black
Body: Nature Spirit hand spun yarn
Wing: Whiting "Wingers"
Post: SAAP High Vis material
Hackle: Whiting dark barred ginger
Tail: Whiting Coc de Leon

Steps:

  • Tie in tailing and then post
  • Tie body material & wrap ¾ way to hook eye - tie off & trim
  • Tie in the wings on the post - note wings are roughly the length of the body
  • Tie in the hackle and wrap around the wings and post 3 to 4 times - some manipulation of the post and wings will be necessary.
  • Apply small amount of body dubbing to area in front of the eye
  • Whip finish & apply head cement