Paradrake

Green Paradrake
Milt's Hex Para Dun
Tying Instructions
Materials: (to Order Material, click the link)
  • Hook: TMC 100 #10-12 or Daiichi 1180 #10-12
  • Thread: Danville Mono 3/0 Cream
  • Extended Body: Olive Cow Elk Hair or Olive Dyed Deer Body Hair
  • Extended Body Support: 15# Mono
  • Tail: Moose Body Hair
  • Hackle: Grizzly Olive
  • Wingpost: Natural Elk Hair

      Actual Western Green Drake
      Hex Spinner

Notes: The Paradrake pattern, also known as a Paradun, is an extended hair-body that was developed by Carl Richards and Doug Swisher in 1971. Richards and Swisher used hen hackle for the wing posts on smaller flies but suggested Deer or Elk Hair for the wing posts on larger mayfly patterns such as the Drakes. The hair body was secured with the butt sections just behind the eye of the hook and the tips extending over the bend of the hook, wrapped as an extended body. Mike Lawson brought the Paradrake pattern to it's current form with the addition of a Bullethead where he attached the butts with the tips facing forward, then pulled the tips back over the butts for a "bullethead". Mike also popularized the pattern as it was perfect for the large Green Drake hatches on the Henry's Fork. He kept a fish bowl filled with these patterns within his fly shop. John Gierach wrote of this in his book, "Death, Taxes, and Leaky Waders"(2000):
"When we pulled in that first day, we went over to Lawson's shop to get The Word. The Word on events like this is usually brief and somewhat simplifed for mass consumption, but still useful, generally consisting of hatch times and patterns.
We'd no sooner walk through the door when a man burst in behind us. He held a strung-up fly rod with a dangling, flyless leader, his waders were dripping with Henry's Fork spring water on the carpet, and his eyes were big and glazed. He dashed to the counter and dipped his hand into the large fishbowl that held hundreds of loose Paradrakes, dumping about a dozen of them onto the counter along with a fifty dollar bill. And then he was out the door, heading back toward the river in the waddling trot peculiar to men in baggy waders.
"That must be the pattern.", I said to Mike.
"Yup", he answered.
I bought a half dozen and so did A.K."

 

Variations:

Brown Paradrake
Extended Body PMD
Materials: (to Order Material, click the link)
  • Hook: TMC 100 #10-12 or Daiichi 1180 #10-12
  • Thread: Danville Mono 3/0 Brown
  • Extended Body: Natural Brown Bull Elk Hair
  • Extended Body Support: 15# Mono
  • Tail: Moose Body Hair
  • Hackle: Grizzly Coachman Brown
  • Wingpost: Natural Elk Hair

      Actual Brown Drake
      Pale Morning Dun
Hexagenia Paradrake
Extended Body Western Green Drake

Materials: (to Order Material, click the link)
  • Hook: TMC 2312 #6-8
  • Thread: Danville Mono 3/0 Cream
  • Extended Body: Yellow Cow Elk Hair
  • Tail: Pale Morning Dun-dyed Quills
  • Hackle: Yellow-Dyed Hackle
  • Wingpost: Yellow Dyed Deer Hair
      

 

       Actual Hexagenia
      Western Green Drake
Gray Paradrake
Extended Body Gray Drake
Tying Instructions

Materials: (to Order Material, click the link)
  • Hook: TMC 100 #10-12 or Daiichi 1180 #10-12
  • Thread: Danville Mono 3/0 Cream
  • Extended Body: Bleached Elk Hair
  • Extended Body Support: 15# Mono
  • Tail: Moose Body Hair
  • Hackle: Medium Dun
  • Wingpost: Natural Elk Hair
      

 

       Actual Gray Drake
      Gray Drake
© 2023 Steve Schalla
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