FLY
Classic Wet Fly
Gray Drake
Tied by Christian Andrews
Gray Drake recipe
| Hook | #8 sproat |
|---|---|
| Thread | claret |
| Tail | three black feather barbs |
| Tag | flat silver tinsel |
| Rib | fine black |
| Body | while floss |
| Hackle | white or pale dun, soft (webby) rooster |
| Wings | rolled mallard flank |
About this fly
from Favorite Flies and Their Histories (1892) by Mary Orvis Marbury
What the Gray Drake imitates
- Gray Drake (dun) Siphlonurus occidentalis
Where the Gray Drake came from
- Described by Charles Cotton, 1676. Earliest vault record: Gray-Drake, same shape as Green-Drake but paler; hog's down body.Source: Cotton, The Compleat Angler Part II (1676), Elliot ed., May list No.12
- Described by Alfred Ronalds, 1836. Natural figured with dressing.Source: Ronalds, The Fly-Fisher's Entomology (2nd ed. 1839; orig. 1836), Grey Drake p.88
- Described by Mary Orvis Marbury, 1892. Explains gray drake as the final stage of the green drake; long used as an evening fly.Source: Marbury, Favorite Flies and Their Histories (1892), Green Drake/Gray Drake histories
- Described by Thomas Best. Repeats Grey Drake in May list.Source: Best, A Concise Treatise on the Art of Angling (vault copy c.1810 ed.; first pub. 1787), May list No.5, p.114-115
- Originated by unknown, Derbyshire, England. Traditional imitation of the spent mayfly; no maker recorded.Source: Cotton, The Compleat Angler Part II (1676), Elliot ed., May list No.12
Where sources tell it differently, each account is listed with its own source.
In the old books
Original dressing as pictured in Marbury, Favorite Flies and Their Histories (1892), Plate Q, No. 147. The photo above is a later tie, not the original.
Inside the vault every material on this fly opens to its own card, and you can save the fly to your own boxes.
