Of course, I’m referring to mayflies here, the Green Drake specifically. If you fly fish the upper Credit River, you probably know that the Green Drake has been going through a rough time. Once a prolific and highly anticipated mayfly hatch on the Credit, it underwent a rapid decline in the past couple decades and had all but disappeared. Dr. Henry Frania, an entomologist with the Royal Ontario Museum, has been studying the Green Drake issues for many years and rather than reiterate his findings, you’re better off Googling it yourself. Essentially, it had been found likely that the nymphs were dying due to ingestion of a toxic substance (chemical or organic). As a result, very few nymphs were reaching the adult stage, leading to the Green Drake being (for the most part) functionally extinct on most of the Credit River.

Fast forward to 2016 where (as I indicated in my previous post) the season started with some of the heaviest Hendrickson hatches seen in years. Blue Winged Olives were also in good numbers, followed by Sulphurs, Yellow Sallies and Gray Foxes. Next up was the infamous and ever-absent Green Drake. I was told they made a half decent showing in 2015 (relatively speaking), although I managed to miss them entirely. In serious need of a break from work and feeling optimistic with the number of bugs so far this year, I took a few days off in hopes of witnessing some of these giant mayflies. As it turned out, the weather and timing were perfect and I was able to spend three evenings among what was possibly the largest showing of Green Drakes since their decline many years ago.

A slightly beat-up Green Drake Dun from the Upper Credit River

In the 12 years I’ve been living in the area and fly fishing the Credit, it was the first time I was able to truly experience what a real Green Drake hatch is like on this river. Many long-time veterans to the river (who are all too familiar with the careless behavior these big bugs bring about in large trout) were also there to partake in the action, along with a number of others there simply to observe and take notes (Dr. Frania included).

When I arrived Wednesday evening around 5:30 pm, it was clear, sunny and warm, with a few Yellow Sally stoneflies fluttering about. Still too early to expect any major bug activity, I tied on a yellow sally and casually fished upstream, keeping an eye out for signs of Green Drakes. In about an hour and a half of fishing, I caught a couple small browns and a slew of another fish that I imagine many unknowing fishermen believe to be tiny browns: stocked Atlantics. Fishing smaller water for average sized trout has become extremely difficult on the Credit due to these fish… when there’s not a larger trout to chase them away, they simply  take over the river, virtually eliminating any chance of catching a wild brown or brook trout. They’re also twice as aggressive (and dumb) as the wild fish, meaning they’re usually the first to jump at a potential meal.

Around 7:00 pm, I peered up into the trees and noticed a good number of large mayflies fluttering about, still fairly high up but slowly making their way down. They seemed far too large to be Gray Foxes and I was hopeful they were the Drakes I’d been waiting for.

Large mayflies that appeared to be Green Drakes spotted in the trees overhead

Less than 5 minutes later, they began descending rapidly towards the river and I confirmed that they were indeed Green Drakes. They were spinners in fact – and there were lots of them! The duns would have emerged a day or two prior and it meant there was a good chance for some hungry browns to come out from hiding.

Green Drake spinner (a.k.a. Coffin Fly) descending onto the Credit

Thankfully, I opted to skip the Dun imitations and instead tied a few spinners earlier that day. They seemed to be a decent match to the bugs I was seeing.

Green Drake spinner imitation, tied earlier that day

As most fly fishermen know, even when the stars align, the conditions are just right and the fish are rising – it’s still never a free ride. You need to work for your fish and you have a limited time window to do so. The urge to rush should be resisted – it’s best to observe and be patient before making hasty casts. Fooling a large wild brown trout on a dry fly is no simple task, even when they have Green Drake tunnel vision.

Such was the case as I fished to a pool of trout rising to these large mayflies. My first fish was easily the largest of the night (and of the season so far). I watched it rise violently under a large overhanging tree branch… the type of continuous rises that I have very rarely seen the likes of. After several such rises in the same location, I carefully placed a cast a couple meters upstream and watched in anticipation as my coffin fly imitation floated over the target zone. The rise was even more violent than the previous ones as it leapt a foot out of the water with my fly. It was a large, dark fish, but sadly it was a short-lived battle that I lost as it thrashed back and forth while performing another aerial acrobatic.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for another fish in the pool to forget about the alarms and dangers it had just witnessed and it graciously took the same fly. This time a smaller fish, around 12″, but satisfying nonetheless.

My first Brown Trout caught (and landed) on a Green Drake Spinner

The drakes were fairly constant from about 7:00 pm until past dark, along with a fair number of duns that I spotted emerging. The spinners were bouncing all over the water, depositing their eggs on the surface. I became fixated on another large fish that was rising but simply was not interested in my spinner. I’d noticed a few duns coming off in the vicinity and while I didn’t have any dry fly duns, I did have a couple Green Drake wet flies that I decided to try. It was to no avail however as the fish eventually suspected my shenanigans and was put down.

I had another fish snub my fly at the last second and I pulled the hook out of one more before finally hooking into a better fish. It wasn’t as large as the first brown that I lost, but it was a good size and very healthy and strong. It’s hard to beat catching wild browns like this on a dry fly. On that note, someone please remind me why we’re stocking millions of 3-4″ atlantics that will either die or at best make it out to the lake then die (and never contribute to the upper river fishery), when we have wild browns like this in the river?

A nice, clean 16-17″ wild Brown Trout caught on a spinner

This was my last fish of the night, but I stuck around for a while to film some of the drakes and rising fish. With two days of vacation still remaining, I left the river content, having experienced what I hoped to. The drakes were very thick at times, so much so that a few even bounced off my fly rod while I was casting – a feeling that was similar to casting a bead-head streamer and having it clip my rod.

The resurgence of the Green Drakes this year has certainly been encouraging and it makes one wonder whether mother nature has begun sorting out the issues that plagued these insects for years past. As great as it is to see the bugs making a bit of a comeback though, it’s not all silver lining. There are still sections of the river that remain devoid of the Green Drake, where it was once abundant. There’s also other ongoing threats, such as declining native Brook Trout numbers, over saturation of the river with stocked Atlantic Salmon and MNR imposed threats to the remaining wild Brown Trout. For now though, I think this is one win that’s worth celebrating.

The post Return of the Drake appeared first on Caffeinated Fly Fisher.

This is the time of year where our fly boxes need to be the most diverse. Depending on the time of day, river and hatches, you might be casting streamers, nymphs, wet flies, emergers, tiny dries, large dries, or even huge topwater patterns. Consequently, I’ve been hitting the tying bench a lot lately, trying to cover all my bases. In what has been an increasing trend of mine, I’ve concentrated more on sub-surface patterns this season to up my odds when fish are either not rising, or when they’re rising but refusing dry flies. Below are some flies I’ve been tying and fishing on some of my local waters.

Grand River

If you fish the Grand River, you know how frustrating it can be if you rely on dry flies to match the hatch. Although I don’t spend as much time on the Grand as I do other rivers, I’ve come to realize that it’s a largely sub surface and emerger river. In response to this, I tied a bunch of the following emerger patters in various sizes, mainly for caddis and blue winged olive hatches. I’m sure that by simply swapping out different colors and materials, these could be used to imitate a much wider variety of caddis and mayflies.

Caddis or BWO emerger, loosely based off a Snowshoe Emerger pattern

A variation of the above fly, tied with slightly different materials and colors

A sparkle caddis pupa emerger, which (in various styles) has done well on the Grand

Caddis pupa nymph: one of the simplest, yet most effective sub-surface flies on the Grand

As a reminder of just how versatile you need to be, I set out to the Grand River last Saturday with a friend and a bunch of the above flies. The weather was perfect, flows were low and there had been no rain for many days prior. Our expectations were high: clear conditions, lots of bugs and rising trout. We spent a total of about 12 hours on the water that day and what we were met with instead was very murky, low-visibility water and not a single witnessed fish rise for the entire day (on the upper and mid stretches). We fished during one of the thickest caddis hatches I’d seen in quite some time, with loads of large caddis floating down the river and fluttering helplessly on the surface – yet we didn’t see a single fish come up. It wasn’t until we drove several kilometers downstream to the lower river (which usually has less visibility than the upper) that the water cleared up and we got into some rising fish. I later learned that the water clarity issues were caused by the first big algae bloom of the year.

Credit River

I was on the Credit after work a couple weeks ago and managed to hit a smorgasbord of hatch activity, with Sulphurs, Isonychia and Caddis all in good numbers. Despite the impressive hatches, fish activity was surprisingly average that evening. I saw and caught a few small fish that were rising, but nothing out of the ordinary. The point is, it takes more than nice weather and lots of bugs to reliably bring up larger trout. I’ve fished many smaller hatches on the Credit in the recent past, with much more (and bigger) fish. I specifically remember an evening a couple years ago at the busiest access point on the river (normally the least-productive fishing) where an Isonychia hatch brought numerous 12-16″ browns to the surface in a feeding frenzy.

For the Credit, I find matching the hatch is generally less of a factor than the Grand. More important on the Credit is presentation and stealth. This isn’t surprising considering the greater angling pressure on the Grand and much smaller, technical water of the Credit. If you’re fishing dry flies, you can usually pick a common food source such as an Isonychia, Stonefly or simply use an attractor. Personally, I like bushy dry flies here, unless there’s a prolific hatch going on: a Stimulator or Humpy are two of my favorites. My only gripe with the humpy is that it can be annoyingly difficult to tie.

Stimulator: One of my favorite and most productive dry flies for the Credit River

Bead Head Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail: One of my favorite sub-surface flies, especially for pocket water and small streams

A simple Isonychia Parachute pattern, effective for imitating this abundant mayfly

A Sulphur soft hackle, effective when sulphurs are out or as a searching pattern

Gurgler: One of my go-to night patterns that I tie in various styles and colors

If I had to fish the Credit with only two flies, the Stimulator and Bead Head Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail would probably be my choices. As mentioned though, I think fly choice is more a matter of personal preference here. I have no doubt that a good Isonychia nymph or simple Walt’s Worm would do equally as well (if not better).

Stillwaters

My experience with stillwater fly fishing is laregly limitted to local stocked water, with the exception of some native brookies and warm water species. Still, I’ve done some experimenting and found a few options that work well for me. I highly recommend checking out the various videos and articles by fellow Canadians Phil Rowley and Brian Chan, who are highly regarded as experts in this area. They’ll tell you that fly selection is much less important than tactics and this has definitely held true for me. Still, its nice to have a few patterns that have proven to be effective.

Slow retrieved nymphs and chironomids are known to be some of the most productive flies, but I’ve found more actively retrieved streamers to be a good all around choice as well – not just for trout, but also for bass and other species.

Redneck Bugger (as I call it): A crystal bugger with a red hackle neck

CB Stocker: Another simple and effective streamer for trout

The above streamers are easy to tie and have worked well for me for both stocked rainbows and smallmouth bass (for the latter, especially the bugger). On days when fish are rising and sometimes even when there are no visible rises, such as warm days when the water is extremely calm, I’ve had a lot of success with a Stimulator. This versatile fly (shown above) can represent a host of different insects: from stoneflies to caddis to hoppers. It also floats extremely well and can be twitched on the surface to entice a strike.

I dont know if it’s just me though, but it seems that irregardlesss of preparations and fly boxes full of favourite patterns, more often than not I end up on the river feeling as though I’m missing some critical fly. This keeps my vise busy and shopping cart full with new tying materials.

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