The Brown Drake Mayfly:
The simulans species of mayfly, a member of the Ephemera genus of the Ephemeridae
family, is usually called the “Brown Drake”. This is a common mayfly in the Mid-West and
the Great Lakes area as well as many western rivers. They prefer the slower moving
sections of streams and some lakes. Like most other burrowing nymphs, this one spends
most of the daylight hours in its burrow and only comes out at night to feed on the
bottom. Rivers and lakes with sand or small pebble bottoms are ideal habitat.
Most of the ones we have found have been located in water that is marginal for trout,
meaning it was a little on the warm side. In some cases you would think only smallmouth
bass would inhibit the water. Most of the time we found there was a population of brown
trout in those cases. You will also find them in water far too warm for trout.
These huge mayflies can provide a lot of food for the trout in a very short time. We have
seen one case, or I should say one season, where the brown drakes hatched at
Yellowstone National Park on the upper Gibbon River in the meadows sections. There
were a lot of the big mayflies and the trout gulped them down until way after dark. Very
late in the day is the best time to fish this hatch. If you can and if the water is not
dangerous, you should fish after dark and into the night during this hatch. Some like this
type of fishing and other don't. It can be very effective if you are at the right place at the
right time. If the type of water you are fishing has brown drakes, you should always be
prepared by having some Perfect Fly nymph, emerger, dun an spinner imitations of them.
The simulans species of mayfly, a member of the Ephemera genus of the Ephemeridae
family, is usually called the “Brown Drake”. This is a common mayfly in the Mid-West and
the Great Lakes area as well as many western rivers. They prefer the slower moving
sections of streams and some lakes. Like most other burrowing nymphs, this one spends
most of the daylight hours in its burrow and only comes out at night to feed on the
bottom. Rivers and lakes with sand or small pebble bottoms are ideal habitat.
Most of the ones we have found have been located in water that is marginal for trout,
meaning it was a little on the warm side. In some cases you would think only smallmouth
bass would inhibit the water. Most of the time we found there was a population of brown
trout in those cases. You will also find them in water far too warm for trout.
These huge mayflies can provide a lot of food for the trout in a very short time. We have
seen one case, or I should say one season, where the brown drakes hatched at
Yellowstone National Park on the upper Gibbon River in the meadows sections. There
were a lot of the big mayflies and the trout gulped them down until way after dark. Very
late in the day is the best time to fish this hatch. If you can and if the water is not
dangerous, you should fish after dark and into the night during this hatch. Some like this
type of fishing and other don't. It can be very effective if you are at the right place at the
right time. If the type of water you are fishing has brown drakes, you should always be
prepared by having some Perfect Fly nymph, emerger, dun an spinner imitations of them.
Copyright 2008 James Marsh
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