Overview
This Charlie Craven pattern from Charlie's Fly Box showcases a variant of the classic Go To Hell attractor pattern. The distinctive green body and white calf hair wing make this fly highly visible to both angler and fish. The use of UV-curing resin over the thread body adds durability and creates a slight translucency that enhances the pattern's appeal. The mixed brown and grizzly hackle provides excellent floatation while creating a mottled appearance that suggests life.
Related patterns
Behavior & presentation
- Natural Behavior
- Ants tumble from vegetation during daytime thermals, landing with audible plops and struggling with legs spread wide. Their segmented bodies create star-like disturbances on glassy surfaces as they attempt escape.
- Where Trout Eat It
- Fish target high-floating attractors in South Platte River broken water and pocket water where visibility and profile matter more than precise imitation. Effective in turbulent currents where trout make quick feeding decisions.
- How to Fish It
- Fish aggressively through fast water with drag-free drifts, relying on the super-floaty characteristics from heavy hackle and white calf hair wing. Can be used as a strike indicator with weighted nymphs on a dry-dropper rig for deep pocket water.
- Best Water
- Fast pocket water, riffle crests, and turbulent runs where the white wing and green body create high visibility, targeting churning water behind boulders and channel margins.
- Strike Type
- Fish rise confidently to terrestrials—watch for nose-pokes or gentle sips on the low profile.
Fishing strategy
- Rigging Suggestions
- Fish on a 9-foot leader tapering to 4X-5X tippet. The buoyant hackle and calf hair wing provide excellent floatation for dry-dropper fishing with weighted nymphs.
- Seasonal Timing
- and summer when mayfly activity is high. The attractor qualities make it a good searching pattern throughout the season.
- Pro Tips
- The green body stands out against most water conditions.
Where to fish it
Rivers anglers pair with this fly, with local shops that stock it.
River details and fly shops from River & Run, our sister site.
Entomology
Green Drake mayflies emerge during evening hours in late spring, representing the largest mayfly species in many western rivers with wingspans exceeding 25mm. These robust insects require extended surface time for wing drying, drifting dozens of feet while pumping hemolymph into expanding wings. Their exceptional size makes them calorie-bonanzas that trigger aggressive competition among trout, with fish sometimes abandoning established feeding lanes to secure these premium prey items.
- Order
- Ephemeroptera
- Family
- Ephemeridae
- Common name
- Green Drake
- Organism
- insect
- Life stage
- adult
Pattern details
- Moving Water
- Rocky Mountain
- dead-drift
- baetis-hatch
- drake-hatch
- classic
- attractor
- searching-pattern
- freestone