For anglers who fish the fabled rivers of the Catskill Mountains, which means the Beaverkill and Willowemoc, along with the Delaware, the end of May is a special time. Because right around Memorial Day, when the mountain laurel is in bloom, is when the green drake hatch occurs. 

Other than the brown drake, which is not as prolific, the green drake is the largest river mayfly in the region. Once in a while, I’ll see a giant hex mayfly (Hexagenia) on the upper East Branch, but I believe that fly is more likely to come from the Pepacton Reservoir than the river proper.

The green drake is eagerly awaited by all who fly fish the Catskills, and is considered to be the pinnacle of eastern fly hatches. That is because the insect is so large, hatches prolifically, and is embellished with a huge spinner fall. 

So as anglers, and from a psychological standpoint, it is easy to conclude that with thousands of really large flies on the water, big trout will be on the prowl. There is some truth in that, but more falsehood than reality. 

When it is their time, green drakes begin to hatch in the morning and emerge throughout the day, although I’ve seen the most activity at dusk. After a few days, male and female spinners will appear, adding to the plethora of food available. The spinners are called “coffin flies” and return to the river to mate, reproduce and die, adding to the still hatching duns. 

At the same time, other aquatic insects, like sulphur duns, along with some species of caddisflies, are also hatching, increasing the glut of food now on the water. That is why I wrote one of my first articles for the River Reporter; it was titled “Is the green drake hatch overrated?” Which I’m sure was considered heresy by some.

To put all of this into perspective, one needs to look at Catskill aquatic insect hatches in terms of a bell-shaped curve, with the green drake and other insects hatching concurrently as the top of that curve. So, despite all the hype, is it any wonder that trout are not easy to catch at this time with so much food available?

Of all the years I fished the Catskills, mostly the East Branch of the Delaware, I recall finding green drakes about four times. The first was with my friends Dave and Rhea, after teaching a session at the Wullf’s school. We were on a long flat pool, with green drakes hatching in profusion, late in the day, soon to be joined by thousands of coffin flies, which added to the show. The three of us, whom I consider to be pretty good fishermen, did not move a trout on that occasion. Why? The fish that inhabited that pool had been feeding on nymphs and duns hatching earlier in the day, so dinner was long over. While we looked for rising fish, the residents of that pool rested comfortably near the bottom with very fat bellies!

The next time was at Peaceful Valley on a cloudy afternoon. The river was up, yet there were some green drakes around. Since there were no rises, I swung a large spider-type wet fly and was rewarded with one trout.

On another occasion, at the head of the same pool, I found a large hatch of green drakes, with trout feeding under a limb, near the bank. There were several fish working that area, chasing and taking the emerging duns. 

Once again, I did not move a fish despite trying both dry flies and spiders fished wet. 

The last time was a few years ago, the first week of June  on the lower East Branch of the Delaware, not far from its junction with the Beaverkill. There were several fish rising when I arrived at the river, but no green drakes, just some small mayflies that I didn’t recognize. Even though no green drakes were hatching, and there were no coffin flies, I had an idea. Since the green drakes’ time to hatch had passed a few days before, I wondered if the rising trout would remember the large flies. So on a whim, I tied a size 10 Green Drake spinner to my 4x tippet, just to see what would happen. And on that evening, without any green drakes or coffin flies on the water, I landed five nice trout, a mix of rainbows and browns. 

Based on that experience, it’s obvious those fish recognized my fly as a remnant of the green drake hatch, and took it readily. 

So in summary, even though I fished the green drake hatch four times, I caught six trout, and five of those on one rather bizarre outing. That’s my experience with this beautiful and large mayfly.

Fishing aside, every angler who has the opportunity to be on one of the main Catskill rivers around Memorial Day should look for the green drake hatch. It’s a phenomenon in nature that should not be missed. Just keep in mind that when the green drakes are hatching, you will have a lot of company!