The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Dry

Foam Extended Body Drake (BDE)

Insect Species Icon March Brown, Brown Drake, Isonychia and 1 others
Difficulty Icon Hard - 7-10 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Extended Body Frame: JSon Sweden Extended Body Pin
  • Hook: Straight shank, straight eye, dry fly hook
  • Thread: UTC 140 Black
  • Tails: Microfibbets (burned with lighter)
  • Extended Body: Foam Sized to Hook (Segmentation created by thread wraps and tied to normal hook by the foam)
  • Hackle: Whiting Rooster Cape (Natural Dun)
  • Thorax: Peacock Herl

Due to the very specific nature of this pattern, there aren’t many substitutions that can be made, but some slight variations can provide the advantage to you on the river:

  • Tails: Pheasant tail fibers
  • Extended Body: Elk or calf hair
  • Hackle: Substitute in your favorite hackle like Whiting High & Dry
  • Thorax: Ostrich Herl

 

This is a very specific pattern, so there aren’t many variations that are possible on the fly. Vary the color scheme of your fly to better imitate the best drake hatch in your local waters. Also don’t forget that you can vary the number of segments in your extended body.

The Foam Extended Body Drake (or BDE Drake) is a really nicely floating fly. You won’t have any problems keeping this guy on the surface and will catch a lot of fish during your local drake hatch with this fly. It’s big and juicy to attract the hungriest of trout in the stream and so buoyant that you can drop whatever fly you like off of it without worrying about it getting waterlogged. There aren’t many times of the season that you can use this fly, but this is an excellent confidence boosting fish catcher that limits complications that you may face during many fishing situations.

Recognizing a hatch is critical if you’re tying this guy on.  As fish follow the hatching Drakes up from the bottom, you’ll notice trout start rising up from the bottom of the water column to feed. When you notice this occuring around the time of Drake season, it’s time to bring in the rig and tie this fly on before things get crazy. A good strategy is to tie this BDE Drake on as a lead dry fly with an emerger drake behind it. You’ll likely notice that the emerger starts getting hit a lot as the insects draw near the surface. Once you see the first splashy rise of a Drake take, it’s game on. At this point you have a couple of options. Sticking with a BDE dry/dropper combo is never a bad call here, but going double dry fly with this guy makes for some remarkable fishing. Whichever you choose, don’t take long because you want to be fishing this fly during the hatch.

Brown Drake

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Brown Drake
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Northwest
Brown Drake
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: East
Brown Drake
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Midwest
Brown Drake
Sizes: #10 - #14

Green Drake

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, Midwest
Green Drake
Sizes: #8 - #14
Region: East
Green Drake
Sizes: #8 - #14

Isonychia

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Southeast
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Midwest
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18

March Brown

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, East
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Northwest
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Midwest
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14

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