This fly first started out as a #14 rusty spinner and I tied it for the Madison River. At Lyon Bridge, the mornings can be filled with spinning mayflies dancing in the air above the boat ramp. It is always a wonderful sight to see, that’s for sure. For me, fishing dry flies with anglers in my boat is something I try to do every single day. For years, I knotted on a #12 Rusty Parachute and that fly has caught more than it’s fair share of trout. I always liked the comparadun style of flies, but they don’t float all that well on rivers like the Madison. Adding a palmered hackle to the comparadun wing just seemed like a good idea. I am sure that I did not come up with this idea, but I can’t remember ever seeing the combination of it before. If you look at traditional Catskill patterns, like the Adams, a hackle wing has been used for an eternity. Most comparadun wings use CDC, deer hair or elk hair; I like to use window’s web and eliminate the stacking of hair. Thorax winged flies have also been around for years, but I never really liked the partridge clump or turkey flat; the widow’s web is much easier to see and tie with. Fast forward to 2017 and I tied this fly in a #10 for the Green Drakes on the Henry’s Fork. JoJo’s Green Drake works really well as a mayfly dun and a spinner. Green Drake mayflies sit high on the water, and my pattern simulates this quite well. We now have the following versions of this fly in the shop: Green Drake, Drake Mackerel (for the NE Corner of YNP), PMD, Rusty Spinner, Blue Winged Olive, Callibaetis (for Hebgen lake), and a Grey Drake Spinner for the massive spinner falls on the Henry’s Fork in late June and early July.
- Originator: Joe Moore, BSA Co-owner
- Hook: TMC 100 or equivalent, #10
- Thread:
- Tail: Moose body hair
- Butt Dubbing: Superfine Dry Fly Dubbing, Olive
- Abdomen: Goose or Turkey Biot, Olive
- Wing: Widows Web, Light Tan
- Hackle: Grizzly dyed olive
