Hook Size: 10
These large drakes start hatching very late in the day and continue into the night. They
usually hatch in the early part of the summer.
As we said, the emerging nymphs swim to the surface where they shed their nymphal skin
and hatch into duns. They drift in the surface skim a short ways when they do this. The
Perfect Fly Yellow Drake Emerger has a trailing shuck that imitates the freshly emerged
dun with the nymphal skin still attached to the tail of the dun.
The large duns usually show up very late in the day on cloudy overcast days or
otherwise, after dark. They make a good meal for a trout. The Perfect Fly Yellow Drake
Dun is not considered as important or effective as the emergers or the spinners but they
will certainly catch trout. It is easier to see the take during the low light conditions using
this large dry fly than it is the emerger and you may very well end up catching more fish
on the dun than the emerger because of that.
Presentation:
A down and across presentation to a feeding trout would be the idea situation, but in low
light or darkness, it may be best to simply cast to areas of the water that are best lit so as
to keep track of your fly. Remember, wading at night can be dangerous. If you are unable
to cast from the banks of the stream, you should wade into the area you intend to fish
before it is completely dark. Moving around in the calm type water these mayflies hatch in
will spook the trout. You want to avoid as much of it as possible. Don’t waste a lot of blind
cast and spook the trout. You are better off waiting for a trout to start feeding within
casting distance and then making your presentation.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
