Hook Size: 8/10
Imitation of a Eastern Green Drake mayfly nymph. The ultimate hatch for Easterners is the Ephemera guttuata, or Eastern Green Drake, a very large mayfly, even larger than the Western Green Drake. The Perfect Fly Eastern Green Drake nymph is a trout fly that imitates the Eastern Green Drake mayfly in the nymphal stage of life.
Green Drake nymphs are burrowers that are most commonly found in the slow to
moderately flowing water such as pools and backwaters that have soft or silt bottoms.
They spend most of their life buried in the silt, banks or soft bottom, but molt several
times during this stage of their life. They come out of their burrows to molt as well as at
night to browse for food and may be eaten by trout during the process.
Nymph Presentation:
Sometimes weighted nymph imitations can be fished along the bottom of the stream very
late in the day with some success. Green drake nymphs can swim well and action can be
added to imitate the up and down, swimming motion of these nymphs. We have found
that it is best to fish imitations of the nymph just prior to the hatch is taking place. They
work very good in the mornings prior to a hatch.
The nymphs hatch throughout the day, not at any one particular time of the day. If there
is not a hatch underway, the nymphs stay in their burrowers most of the time and are not
available for the trout to eat. They come out to feed and molt and during those times the
trout feed on them.
Copyright 2003 James Marsh
