Found this mayfly on the front of my house this morning...

[wgmiller]

Being somewhat new to flyfishing, I always get excited when I find new mayfly species on my house. Based on the size of this one, I knew I hadn't seen it before. Referencing Meck's pocket guide, I was able to ID it as a Yellow Drake. It got a little beat up in the container (hence the missing and damaged tails)... :-(

In researching them a bit, it seems as though they can be a "hit and miss" hatch and not heavy like the Green Drakes or other more notable hatches.

Anyone have any Yellow Drake stories?

 

[MattBoyer]

Found one last year around this time in the upper stretch of the lower Little Swattie , but could not ID it until now. Thanks.

Boyer

 

[Padraic]

Don't tell anyone, but Clark's Creek in Dauphin County has a mini-hatch of them. Watch for them in the sandy sections of the stream.

When I first started flyfishing, Bob Clouser the local flyfishing legend sold me a couple golden stonefly nymphs when he heard I liked Clarks. It was years before I saw my first drake and probably a long time after that before I connected the two. I'm sure there are no golden stones in Clarks! Anyway, I tried yellow stimulators and other dries, but the nymph was always best. I've had trout swim yards to inhale them. And you can see the thing from 40 or 50' away in dim light! Give it a try.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

I live in between Clarks and Stony. See those on my house every summer. There's some yellow drakes on the Tully too.

 

[bert304]

I saw one like that on the Tully but it had a light olive green body.
It did not match perfectly any in the books that I have. But the wings were clear also

 

[abbrod]

Looks like hexagenia to me.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/712

Yellow Drake

 

[Squaretail]

Its funny how common they are on alot of different waters. But I've never seen them in any kind of force.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Ya Ive never seen them in full force either. It would be nice too.....those are some huge flies!

 

[cipher]

I hate to disagree with you, salvelinusfontinalis, but I am almost 100 percent sure that that is a Hex. The reason I say this is because I have seen many Mayflies around my house that look almost exactly like that one, all of the ones I have seen had only two tails which is the same as the Hexes. Where as the Yellow Drake has three tails. I apologize for unnecessarily bumping a semi-old thread, I just wanted to see if anyone agreed or disagreed with me.

 

[Ramcatt]

http://www.paflyfish.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=14332&forum=2

 

[Chaz]

I think it's a HEX. The reason we don't see them in Eastern PA is the ones we have in the eastern half of the state hatch later in the year. They should be hatching on the Susquehanna and some of the warmer streams, they are a warm water fly. Most of the other streams that have them hatch much later in the summer.
The Hex. Atrocaudata hatches in August and September and are very big, bigger than a G.D.

 

[sandfly]

Definitely a Yellow Drake, been hatching on pine for weeks now. Will come off through July. A size 6 canary fly works great. During the sulphurs and cahills trout take this fly. hex's are closer to a brown drake in color than yellow. at least here in Pa.

Adults of this species begin to show in mid-June in the Pennsylvania mountain ranges. The Catskills start a week or so later and hatches can be found in that region through early August. Farther north, and in the Upper Midwest, the hatch begins in mid-July and lasts into mid-August.

 

[Chaz]

WG, I was thrilled to find YD's on Devils Hole one June, only to have to wait out a super cell t-storm. I was rewarded by waiting, one about 20 minutes, and found the trout to be quite eager to take the YD.
Where do you live?