Flav Small Western Green Drake Emerger

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.

The Small Western Green Drake “Flavs” emerge for only an hour or so in the afternoon during clear, bright days but the hatch will last longer during the overcast or cloudy days.

The nymphs split their shucks in the surface skim, where they shed the nymphal shucks and emerge into duns. The emerger fly pattern floats low in the surface skim with the CDC wing flush with the surface making it a little difficult to keep in sight so, care must be taken.