TUFTED GREEN DRAKE

• BY JOEL EVANS

Tufted Green Drake

This began with too much time on my hands. Working from home works for me, but it did lead to some unexpected available time. Not that I didn’t have other things to do. But social distancing can take many forms. For example, I decided to replace the rear brakes on my classic car, a 1979 Trans Am. (Email me and we can exchange pictures of our beloved cars). Social distancing in the garage with the door shut and the radio for company works for me.

By the way, in case you are wondering, yes, I did go fishing. A lot at first before the Colorado river runoff began. Then fly tying be

came the late-night priority…. just in time to invent a new pattern. Funny how the mind needlessly wanders when no one else is around.

After much serious contemplation with myself, quizzing multiple fishing friends, perusing the internet, and thumbing the pages of fly catalogs, I have come to the unequivocal conclusion that the world needs another green drake pattern.

I had this on my mind for some time. I love all kinds of fly-tying material. Natural or synthetic, muted or bold, decades of use or the latest hot new item. But when it comes to combing practicality and floatability, I keep coming back to foam. Witness my last issue column for the Twisted Damsel using mostly foam. Foam comes in multiple thicknesses, colors, and is very malleable. Maybe the only knock is durability, as it can tear.

So as to a green drake dry, and any dry fly for that matter, a pattern that has realism for fishfooling effectiveness and stays on top longer than most has lasting appeal. I started with a pattern I have tied and used for years, just without the foam. I wanted to keep the simplicity but somehow incorporate just a small amount of foam for added flotation, as many of the Colorado waters I fish regularly are broken water with mild current, even in the August days of late summer when the drakes are breaking out. Other thinner and lightly dressed patterns are admittedly better for slow, calm water.

So I simply added a doubled over foam bump at the forward end of the abdomen, just behind the hackle wing. Being oriented on top, it is not particularly visible to the fish; it does add a small amount of visibility to track the fly, and achieves its primary purpose of flotation. As to the name, a tuft is a bunch of something growing from a base, so Tufted Drake sounded better than Green Drake with a Foam Back for Added Flotation. By the way, the same foam tuft can be applied to other insect groups, such as Tufted Stone, or Tufted Mayfly, or Tufted Caddis. I feel a pattern series coming on!

HOOK DRY 14 2X LONG THREAD 6/0 OLIVE TAG 6/0 OLIVE THREAD TAIL MOOSE MANE ABDOMEN LIGHT OLIVE DRY FLY DUBBING RIBBING 6/0 OLIVE THREAD FLATTENED FOAM 2M WHITE OR TAN WING OLIVE OR OLIVE GRIZZLY WHITING SADDLE HACKLE

TYING INSTRUCTIONS:

Watch the video, then:

Typical dry fly construction. Tie in thread tag at hook bend. At bend, build a small thread bump to spread the tail. Tie in tail, spreading fibers. Tie in a precut length of thread at bend for ribbing and lay back. Dub tapered abdomen to half point. Flatten ribbing thread by untwisting and lay over dubbing in wide loops for segmentation. Use light pressure so ribbing is taut but stays on top of dubbing. Tie off and trim ribbing. Cut a very small strip of foam, tie in tip of foam at end of dubbing with foam tag laying back over dubbing. Fold foam forward, tie off, and trim. (Or the foam can be done as a first step before tail and dubbing). Tie in hackle and wind as many wraps as you can. Leaving head room is the challenge. Whip finish.

About The Author

Joel Evans is a fly fishing writer, photographer, and long-time member of Trout Unlimited from Montrose, CO. You can contact him via the HCA editor at frank@hcamagazine.com.