As the calendar turns to June, my favorite hatch of the year looms on the horizon. By this time, we have seen the start of the caddis, stoneflies, and PMDs. These hatches make for some epic fishing in their own right. But one hatch stands above the rest and is what we dream about all winter long. It’s the drake hatches of the Yellowstone Region.
Brown, green, and gray drakes hatch throughout the Yellowstone region in June and July. These hatches are everything that dry fly anglers dream of. Big bugs, explosive rises, and large trout. It doesn’t get much better in Western trout fishing, in my humble opinion. While I am no entomologist, I’ll share my excitement by touching on the drake hatches in the Yellowstone region and what I know about them from a fishing perspective.
Green Drakes
I remember back to the first drake hatch I’d ever experienced. It was the summer of 2021 when I lived out of my truck and trout bummed around the West. I had heard whispers of the green drake hatch, so I camped out for seven days on one of the West’s famous fisheries. The first day was wet and cloudy, and I waded downstream to a flat I thought would fish well. As the clock hit 11:00 am, the river exploded. It was like someone was dropping cannonballs into the river, as green drakes were engulfed by big trout. I quickly hooked up, as did every boat and fellow angler in sight. I yipped “Green drakes, baby!” to the boat going by as we shared our excitement for this epic hatch. That week I spent on the river formed my love for the beautiful green drake mayfly.
While there are a few species of green drake, what I am referring to here is the Drunella grandis. This drake is a large, fat, dark green mayfly with yellow highlights. Often a size 10 or 12 fly, they are found on the West’s most famous tailwaters to the overlooked high mountain streams. The first hatches start in early June, and one could chase green drakes into the end of August if you know where to look. The hatch usually lasts a few hours, starting in the late morning and ending in the early afternoon.
Green drake hatches can be highly dependent on the weather. The cloudy/crappy weather days in June and July are the best for green drake fishing. The big mayflies struggle to get out of their shucks and into the air, and the big trout take advantage. A spinner fall is less common, but if you’re lucky enough to be in the right place, you can find some good fishing on green drake spinners.
Some of my favorite green drake patterns include the Last Chance Cripple, DJL Drake, and a parachute green drake. Large soft hackles and mayfly nymphs work well in the early morning before the hatch. There are many unique drake patterns out there that keep the fly tyer busy and inspired all winter long.
The green drake is known to bring some of the largest fish in the river to the surface, which is why so many anglers drop everything they are doing to fish a good green drake hatch.
Brown Drakes
One of the rarer but truly astonishing hatches in Western trout fishing is the Brown Drakes. A few of my best memories from my young fishing journey involve late nights amid blanket brown drake hatches.
A longer, skinnier mayfly than the green drakes, brown drakes are burrowing mayflies. They prefer streams with siltier bottoms and hatch in slightly warmer water temperatures. These drakes are more of a yellow/amber color than brown and have a large mottled wing. They hatch throughout June and can be difficult to time, but it’s worth many nights on the river waiting for the hatch to start.
While they can be seen streamside during the day, the best fishing occurs in the evening, when the female drakes return to the water’s surface to lay their eggs. The evening is also when the peak emergence often takes place, and it is not unusual to have duns and spinners on the water at the same time.
Brown drake dry fly fishing is best on calm, warm summer nights. Anglers will fish as long as they can see their flies into the dark, which in June is after 10:00 pm.
The combination of big drakes on the surface and the fading evening lights often brings some of the biggest trout to the surface. Some nights, it seems the later into the evening you fish, the bigger the trout get. My best success has come on cripple patterns like Rene Harrop’s last chance cripple.
While it’s a tough hatch to time, those in the know get glossy-eyed when thinking of the brown drake hatch. I definitely do.
Gray Drakes
Another spotty drake hatch is the gray drakes. Only found on a few fisheries in the region, the gray drakes are another mayfly hatch to look forward to in June and July.
The ones I have seen are around size 12 and have a brown/gray body. They prefer slow-gradient rivers and some lakes. The gray drakes are unique in that the nymphs actually swim to the stream’s edge to emerge, though sometimes an emergence can be fished. The best of gray drake fishing occurs during the spinner fall, and trout key in on gray drake spinners in slow current and back eddies. The spinners I have come across have started in the mid-morning and lasted until early afternoon.
I have only been lucky enough to fish a couple of gray drake hatches in my time, and I remember each one for the hours of dry fly fishing they provided. A size 12-14 rusty spinner is the perfect imitation, though any variety of mayfly spinners will get the job done. The gray drake is another beautiful, large mayfly that draws many fish to the surface in the Yellowstone Region.
Other Summer Mayflies To Look Forward To
While these drake hatches have been on my mind, we have a wide variety of mayfly hatches to look forward to in the summer months. The flavs are the smaller cousins of the green drakes, usually in the 14-16 size range. They look similar to the green drake but often provide more consistent fishing thanks to excellent spinner falls. PMDs are among the best mayfly hatches all summer long. The hecubas, mahongonies, and tricos all have a time to shine through the late summer and fall months. We are truly blessed with the wide variety of mayflies in the Yellowstone Region.
I hope this article gets you excited for the upcoming drake hatches. It’s one of my favorite times of year, and I spend all winter long tying flies and dreaming of drake season. I invite you to hit the road and chase the drakes this season. You won’t regret it!
As always, thanks for following The Curious Angler.
Nick
