Brown Drake (Ephemera simulans)
Imagine a mayfly up to 3-inches in length! Wow. That large of a mayfly is likely a brown drake and can be found hatching on the lower Madison River in mid-June.
While hatches are short-lived, they are incredibly prolific making this a crucial food source for trout during this time. Once the water temperatures hit 50 degrees, brown drakes will start their activity, but it isn’t until 55 degrees that they’ll hatch.
This burrowing mayfly thrives in the silty weed beds between the Warm Springs and Greycliffs fishing access sites west of Bozeman. This hatch is a Bozeman angler favorite for evening dry fly sessions just before salmonfly season on the upper Madison. Big brown trout can be found rising in tailouts and along gentle current seams near sunset for the week or two that these big mayflies are most active.
Experienced anglers time their arrival to the river as shadows begin to envelope the islands and weed-beds along US HWY 84.
Our Bozeman guided fly fishing trips start in the early afternoon when we have experienced dry fly anglers hoping to experience this hatch on the lower Madison River.
This is an important hatch on Idaho's Henry's Fork River and the Smith River in Montana as well.
Ensure you have flies in sizes #10-#14 to cover the size ranges you’ll encounter. Trout eat these flies in all stages, so have nymphs, emergers, and cripples in addition to adults.
Top 5 Brown Drake Flies For Fly Fishing in Montana
