Dry Fly Fishing Isonychia, North Central, PA - Wooly Bugged

Brushleg: family of mayflies that includes the Isonychia, also known as the Slate Drake or Mahogany Dun

On Sunday I fished a small tributary that supports a great population of wild brown trout. This stream also has sporadic hatches of the Isonychia mayfly, commonly known as the Slate Drake. These large bugs sporadically hatch from mid-June to early September here in Pennsylvania. My hope was that I’d be able to use a dry dropper rig to target the trout with both an Isonychia emerger and nymph. With the sunlight pouring through the tree canopy, I wasn’t sure the fish would eagerly come up to the surface. It turns out, they were more than willing to move for a #8 Slate Drake Parachute (emerger). I was able to film some great takes on the surface and thoroughly enjoyed the day. In this video I use my 9’-5wt Orvis Recon with a standard WF line and a 9’-5X hand tied fluorocarbon leader.

99% of my videos are self-filmed. 99% of my videos are on water I’ve never fished. All streams are accessed on foot.