The Green Drake Hatch

Although not as popular as the golden stone and salmon fly hatch, the green drake hatch is still worth a fairly well know and popular hatch. Anglers typically call green drakes ‘trout candy’ and for a good reason; because when they hatch, it triggers trout’s feeding frenzy. Here at River Bum, we carry a wide range of dry flies for fly fishing the green drake hatch. But first, we’ll discuss some things you need to know and understand about the hatch:

The green drake

The bug is a rather large mayfly that is identifiable by its vibrant green color and upright mayfly wings. They often come in size #10 to #12, but they also come as #8 sized. Green drakes can be fished as a spinner, nymph, emerger, dun, and cripple.

Unlike other mayflies, green drakes unfold their wings six to 12 inches below the surface when they emerge. The wings are also bigger than many other mayflies, and they take longer to dry on the water’s surface before they can fly. This makes for some great dry fly action.

Timing of the hatch

Green Drakes are also notoriously difficult to time. 58 degrees is about the temperature you should begin looking for them on the water. However, on some rivers, Green Drakes are infamous for only hatching at specific times of day. Hatches can occur in early June through July, and tapers off in August. Summer solstice is a typically a good indicator date of the start of the hatch, but that’s a salty old fisherman rule of thumb.

At peak hatch times, there may be days when the hatch won’t happen. If the water temp is at 58 degrees, they should be coming off. You should also consider the time of the day. Dusk is a prime time for the hatch. A bit of cloud cover on a day in summer can also be a trigger.

Get the right flies

Browse the full selection of green drake flies at River Bum. We also carry other popular patterns like Wulff, which can be fished in fast or slow water, and Sparkle Dunn, which looks like a green drake hatch before completing the dun’s emergence.