Flavs Small Western Green Drake Dun

Small Western Green Drakes are commonly referred to as “flavs” and this is due to the fact that the most common species is the favilinea. (By the way, the name Small Western Green Drakes and flavs is interchangeable.) These Flavs are very important in the West and inhabit most of the Western streams. These mayflies are very similar to the larger Western Green Drake which is usually a hook size or two larger.

The differences in the larger Western Green Drakes and the smaller version called Flavs are in their behavior, the time of hatches, and the duration of  hatches. In locations where both mayflies exist, the Flavs are more plentiful than their larger cousins. The Small Western Green Drake hatches are dependent on cloud cover and tend to not occur during the bright days. Often anglers will confuse these flavs with the Blue winged Olives which are much smaller.

After the nymphs complete their assent to the top of the water and split their shucks open, the duns emerge in the surface skim where they spend very little time before flying away.

Normally, they spend only a few seconds before flying away. Even though the trout take the emerger imitations of the Small Western Green Drakes, very well, most anglers prefer to fish the dun pattern because the dun pattern is easier seen and far more fun to fish.