Green Drakes-Ephemeralla Dodsi and Grandis #10
Adult-Slate grey brown wings with olive brown grey bodies
Chasing Green Drake Hatches is a passion for many, as the infamous
Drake is never predictable and always elusive. Yet if you catch
it right on the Yakima or any other Western Stream it can be leg
wobbling. Generally around the 52-54 degree mark, this big Mayfly
crawler begins to emerge on the Yakima, particularly from the
Upper Canyon stretch West to Easton Dam.
Although I would not call the Green drake
hatch prolific on the Yakima I would call the response from the
trout memorable! Out of the month that the insect is hatching
and available, 3 of those days will be awesome, 5-8 of those days
will be great and the other days will vary from average at best,
to good. Prior to the actual emergence a robust # 8-10 short shank
nymph is a good bet…Attractor nymphs such as the Hares Ear,
Prince and the like can be very effective. I have personally never
found the need for the actual emerger such as the Quigly…as
every time I have witnessed a hatch and trout feeding on drakes
they have been keying in on the adults. However a Quigly would
not be a bad bug to have in the arsenal.
As with many Spring Mayflies in the West,
the actual hatch occurs from around 12 noon to 3pm and cloudy,
non w_ _ _ y days are optimal. Adult pattern types include: extended
body Para Drakes, Comparaduns and Standard Thorax ties. Great
attractors include: Royal Wulffs, Royal Parachutes, Grey Wulffs
to name a few.
