Brown Drake
Ephemera simulans
Description
The Brown Drake (Ephemera simulans) is a large, burrowing mayfly that provides a fantastic prelude or companion to the Green Drake and Hex hatches. Hook sizes #10-12 make it a "meat hatch." Distinctive for its mottled brown wings and large size, it often appears in prolific numbers on slower sections of rivers and some lakes. It is the smaller cousin of the Brown Drake found in the East, but widely distributed across the West and Midwest.
Life Cycle Stages
Nymph
Recommended Fly Patterns
Emerger
Recommended Fly Patterns
Adult
Recommended Fly Patterns
Habitat
Like the massive Hexagenia, the Brown Drake nymph is a burrower. It requires soft substrates—sand, fine gravel, or silt—where it digs tunnels. Unlike the Hex which demands pure muck, Brown Drakes often inhabit slightly faster water with sandy bottoms, such as the tailouts of large pools or slower river bends. They are also found in lakes with suitable sandy bottoms.
Behavior
Brown Drakes hatch in late spring or early summer, usually just before the Green Drakes or Hexes. The hatch is often temperature-dependent. On cloudy days, duns may pop in the afternoon, but the main event is often the evening spinner fall. The spinners swarm over the water at dusk, dancing in the air before falling spent. This can bring very large fish to the surface in the fading light. The hatch is relatively short-lived, lasting only a couple of weeks on any given river section.
Fishing Information
Seasonality Late May through June.
Tactics
- Subsurface: Fishing a large burrower nymph pattern near the bottom or swung mid-column during the pre-hatch phase is deadly.
- The Spinner Fall: Be ready at dusk. The water can boil with fish.
- Sandy Bottoms: Target sections of the river where the bottom transitions from rock to sand; this is where the nymphs live.
- Big Flies: Don't worry about using 4x or 5x tippet; these are big bugs and the takes can be violent.
Recommended Patterns
- Nymph: Brown Drake Nymph, Hex Nymph (smaller size)
- Emerger: Brown Drake Cripple, Soft Hackle (Brown/Partridge)
- Adult: Brown Drake Parachute, Brown Wulff, Brown Drake Spinner
Conservation Status
Burrowing mayflies are sensitive to substrate changes. Excessive sedimentation can smother their preferred sand/gravel mix, while channelization can scour it away. Maintaining natural river sediment transport and flow regimes is essential for Brown Drake populations.
