Slate drakes

[Maurice]

Because Slate drakes typically hatch on midstream or stream edge rocks they are swimmers making the nymphs vulnerable during emergence. I tie a Gallagher special using gray hackle and tail with peacock herr and silver wire palmered. Drop it below a dry 18” or just swing it like Shakey does.

https://youtu.be/gjtZ3h3h2fs

Swing it deep and swing it toward shore. Let it drag even, it works.

 

[larkmark]

I have never seen any really big hatches of Slate Drakes. A few on the water here and there is all I ever have seen. Do others see heavy hatches of them?

Fish like them and definitely take them even when there do not seem to be any hatching. My favorite way to fish them is just blind casting in a riffle with a bushy dry fly version. I have put a dropper with an iso nymph below it in that same situation and caught some too.

 

[redietz]

larkmark wrote:
I have never seen any really big hatches of Slate Drakes. A few on the water here and there is all I ever have seen. Do others see heavy hatches of them?

I've seen heavy spinner falls, but never a heavy hatch (where "heavy hatch" means a lot of duns on the water.) As noted above, they often hatch on streamside rocks rather than on the water's surface. (It seems to vary stream to stream what percentage do this.)

 

[shakey]

Maurice wrote:
Because Slate drakes typically hatch on midstream or stream edge rocks they are swimmers making the nymphs vulnerable during emergence. I tie a Gallagher special using gray hackle and tail with peacock herr and silver wire palmered. Drop it below a dry 18” or just swing it like Shakey does.

https://youtu.be/gjtZ3h3h2fs

Swing it deep and swing it toward shore. Let it drag even, it works.

I do tye this fly,but, I just call it a peacock and brown.

This tyer always cracks me up, because he calls his bobbin holder a bobbin.
I wonder if he calls his rod a reel ? ????