classic Michigan dry fly · c. 1952
Roberts' Black Drake
Also called Black Drake
Likely origin Only Deschaine's column describes this fly; the DNR bulletin and Northern Express confirm Roberts' career but not the pattern.
History
Clarence Roberts started tying in 1942, when his brother Cliff left for the Army Air Corps and handed over his tying kit. Roberts was a game warden around Grayling at the time and kept the job for nearly 30 years, retiring in 1971. By about 1949 he was selling flies through liveries, bait shops and hardware stores.
The Black Drake is one of his early deer-hair patterns and was on sale by 1952. The body is deer hair laid along the hook and carried past the bend, held down with thread crossed over itself. Roberts tied it two ways: a parachute with a white deer-hair post and brown hackle, and a spent fly with badger hackle-tip wings.
Tom Deschaine thinks it was probably meant for small dark mayflies such as Baetis, though the sizes listed are large for that insect. Roberts is also credited with the better known Roberts' Yellow Drake, built on the same deer-hair body.
Materials
| Hook | Dry, sizes 10 to 12 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 6/0 (green 6/0 on the spent version) |
| Tail | Butt ends of the body hair, trimmed so a few fibers remain |
| Body | Deer hair laid along the shank and extended past the bend |
| Rib | Tying thread wound forward and back in a crisscross |
| Wing | White deer hair post (parachute version) or badger hackle tips set semi-spent (spent version) |
| Hackle | Brown, wound around the post on the parachute version |
Sources
- Deschaine, T. "Clarence Roberts: Au Sable River Tyer." Fly Anglers Online, July 30, 2012.
- "Showcasing the DNR: The game warden and the Yellow Drake." Michigan DNR bulletin.
- "The Other Fly-Tying Legend." Northern Express, November 16, 2025.
- Darkes, J. "Tie One On: Grayling, Michigan Style." Fly Tyer, January 19, 2022.
Know more about this fly's history, or spot a mistake? Send a correction.
No photo yet. Every photo on michfly is of a fly tied for the site, so they're added a few at a time.
Original recipe cards for many Michigan patterns are kept at the Michigan Dry Flies archive, built by the late Tom Deschaine.