Hexagenia Paradrake

Created by Carl Richards and Doug Swisher

HOOK: 900BL, sizes 8-12 THREAD: Yellow WING: Back or dark gray elk hair. Wing should appear wide from side, narrow from front. TAIL: Moose hair BODY: Yellow-dyed elk hair. Tie in front of wing with hairs facing forward, and wrap up to hook eye. Then pull hair back along hook shank to make an extended body. Wrap with thread from head to tail. HACKLE: Grizzly dyed gold-tan and tied parachute style

Uses

Use to imitate the dun stage of Hexagenia mayflies when they are hatching.

How to Fish

Dress the fly with floatant. The natural insect can make quite a ruckus on the water, so it's allright to let this fly drag a bit, or to twitch it, or just pull it in a foot or so every now and then.

 
Hexagenias hatch after sunset on some lakes and slow-moving rivers. Because the best fishing is when it's too dark to see, the best strategy is to use a heavy leader, say 1X, and to have several flies tied up and ready to go with a loop-to-loop leader system. When the tippet tangles (have no doubt; it will tangle in the dark), clip it off and quickly put on a new fly.