Parachute Green Drake 02/08/2026 Photo Album

A click on this link to my 09/11/2012 post, returns you to my first attempt to create a parachute western green drake to mimic the large mayflies that populate many western streams. Every summer I seek these hatches out, as they are my favorite of all the western emergences. The flies are large, and all the trout in the stream seem to tune in when they are prevalent. In fact, I have had decent success weeks after the hatch ended; that is how eager the trout are for the large tasty morsel represented by a western green drake.

Finished Product

This fly has evolved for me over time, so the materials table on the 09/11/2012 post is a bit outdated. After much experimentation I concluded that the moose mane tail is a critical triggering characteristic for this fly, so that remains in my pattern. I retained the maroon rib and the pale olive body, so no change there as well. The biggest modification is the wing. The original pattern called for white calf body, but I substituted white poly yarn such as McFlylon. The McFlylon is much easier to work with than the slippery calf body hair. I am also a proponent of creating a very tall wing. I believe that the large wing is another key triggering feature of the western green drake fly. When I tied the pattern in 2012, I did not possess grizzly hackle dyed olive, but I have a decent supply of that, and I prefer the dark olive hackle on my parachute green drakes.

I tie four styles of green drakes, and all have their moments during a hatch. The parachute green drake is generally the most productive. I lead with it in the morning, when I know that green drakes are present, and it rarely disappoints. The low riding body and high wing imitation dupes fish until around 1PM, when naturals begin to appear. On some days I hang with the paradrake throughout the afternoon, and it produces fish after fish. But for some reason, there are days when fish begin to ignore or refuse the parachute version.

Opposite Side

In these instances I generally shift to a green drake comparadun. Natural green drakes emerge with a large amount of flutter, and I suspect that the large fan wing of the comparadun more accurately represents the wild fluttering action of the emerging adults. I also carry Harrop hair wing green drakes, but their effectiveness does not measure up to the paradrake and comparadun.

Materials Included

Within the last five years I also created some user friendly green drakes. These provided sporadic glimpses of effectiveness, but they also never yielded the consistency that I desire. However, during the summer of 2025 on trips to South Boulder Creek, I gave my son, Dan, and friend, Nate, a user friendly to cast. They both experienced great success; and, in fact, I switched to a user friendly to capitalize on the action. I plan to discuss the user friendly in more detail, when I post on that fly in the near future.

I counted my parachute green drakes and concluded that I needed to replenish my supply with five additional size 14’s. In addition, I refurbished two damaged in size 12. All these flies possess long moose mane tails and high white poly wings colored black with white tips. Dyed olive grizzly hackles are wound around the wing post parachute style. I cannot wait for green drake season.