02/11/2026
June will be here before you know it! 🌞
This fly is a great cripple pattern for late spring/early summer. The slate drake, or Isonychia, can be seen hatching from June all the way to October. Slate drakes will usually swim to the banks to hatch, but will also hatch mid-channel in larger streams and rivers. I used turkey biots on this pattern that were dyed by Henry Ramsay, whom I was fortunate to meet at the Codorus Outdoor Show. We both agreed that many colors on the market are not very accurate to the actually colors of the insects we try to imitate as fly fisherman. I can say by the looks of how this pattern turned out that I will definitely be using more materials from Mr. Ramsay in the future!