The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning
The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning
Isonychia, Brown Drake, Green Drake
Medium - 3-5 Min
Coldwater
This fly is crucial to have in your box during the Isonychia (Slate Drake) hatch. It can be a bit of a difficult pattern for new tiers, so here are some material substitutions you can make to ease the difficulty:
The Isonychia Emerger is a very specific pattern designed to imitate a very specific stage of the Isonychia lifecycle. Since this emergence phase is short and precise, there aren’t really any variations that can be made. If you like, tread a small glass bead onto the thread and tie it in to imitate the bubble mayflies ride to the subsurface. You cam also adjust the color scheme to imitate the Green or Brown Drakes.
This fly is the perfect imitation if you’ve found yourself in the middle of an Isonychia, or Slate Drake, hatch. The Drakes don’t hatch very often and they typically provide a legendary fishing day if you catch this one. While especially prolific on the Eastern regions, even Western waters provide good Drake hatches that are trackable. If you’re able to anticipate the Isonychia hatch- following the feeding patterns from the bottom, to the middle, subsurface and then dry flies- you will have the fishing day of your life with this pattern. If you’re noticing fish fish lift up in the water column and you’re around the time the Isonychia’s hatch, its time to put this guy on. Hit it while it’s hot and have the fishing day of a lifetime.
Tracking the hatch is key if you’re tying this guy on. Sure- you could simply tie on a dry fly Isonychia and drop this emerger off of the back, but if you can follow the hatch and understand the workings of the feeding situation, you will literally catch every fish in the stream. As fish follow the hatching Isonychia’s up from the bottom, you’ll notice trout start rising up from the bottom of the water column to feed. Now is the time to tie on a dry dropper with this emerger as your trailer. 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. You can fish double dries during the thick of the hatch or stick with your dry-dropper; whatever you choose, have your rigs pre-tied and your game plan laid out so you can make hay during this hatch.
| Regional Hatch Chart | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Region: West
Brown Drake Sizes: #10 - #14
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Region: Northwest
Brown Drake Sizes: #10 - #14
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Region: East
Brown Drake Sizes: #10 - #14
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Region: Midwest
Brown Drake Sizes: #10 - #14
|
| Regional Hatch Chart | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Region: West, Northwest, Midwest
Green Drake Sizes: #8 - #14
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Region: East
Green Drake Sizes: #8 - #14
|
| Regional Hatch Chart | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Region: East
Isonychia Sizes: #12 - #18
|
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Region: Southeast
Isonychia Sizes: #12 - #18
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Region: Midwest
Isonychia Sizes: #12 - #18
|
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Copyright © 2003 – 2025 MidCurrent LLC, All Rights Reserved.