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Blue Quill
A dry fly, tied #16–18, carried year round. It is tied against 2 named insects in this book — April–May and September–October.
A small, dark mayfly dun tied on a standard dry-fly hook in sizes 16 and 18 with black 8/0 thread. The tail is dark dun hackle fibres, the body a stripped peacock quill in a dark shade, which gives the segmentation the natural has; the wings are pale dun hen tips or poly set upright, and the hackle is dark dun. It is tied against the Blue Quill, Paraleptophlebia adoptiva, of April and May in water from 44 to 56 degrees, and against the Mahogany Dun, Paraleptophlebia spp., of September and October from 45 to 58 degrees — spring Blue Quills and fall Mahoganies are the same fly. It is carried through the season and fished for trout, often alongside the Hendrickson in April, where it covers the smaller, darker duns coming off in cold water at midday. A size 18 riding low is the usual answer then.
- #16–18Hook size
- dry flyType
- AllSeason
- 2Hatches matched
What it looks like
A drawing, not a photograph, and not traced from one. Its proportions were read off 5 independent reference photographs of the pattern and written down as 5 measured characteristics — wing angle, tail length against the shank, how far a hackle fibre reaches — every one of which had to hold across more than one of them before it could be drawn. What survives across many photographs of a fly is the fly.
What it imitates
Each of these is the same hatch record the app's own panel reads, so a pattern recommended on a river card in the app is recommended for one of the insects below.
- Blue Quill Paraleptophlebia adoptiva · April–May · 44–56°F · #16–18
- Mahogany Dun Paraleptophlebia spp. · September–October · 45–58°F · #16–18
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | Standard dry-fly hook, sizes 16–18 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 8/0 |
| Tail | Dark dun hackle fibres |
| Body | Stripped peacock quill, dark |
| Wings | Pale dun hen tips or poly, upright |
| Hackle | Dark dun |
When to fish it
Fished alongside the Hendrickson in April. Small, dark, and low — a size 18 in cold water at midday.
Carried all year. The insects it matches are active april–may and september–october, in water from 44°F to 58°F.
Target species
- Trout
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Escanaba River the Upper Peninsula · July mean 68.3°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
- Abb Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Parachute Adams dry fly · #12–20 — Universal mayfly dun imitation. Every angler carries these.
- Adams (Catskill) dry fly · #12–20 — The original. Rides higher than the parachute in broken water.
- Adult Cranefly dry fly · #10–16 — Long trailing legs, sparse hackle, skittered rather than drifted. Autumn and spring evenings on the bank side.
- CDC Caddis dry fly · #14–20 — Lower in the film than an Elk Hair. For flat water and educated fish.
- Elk Hair Caddis dry fly · #12–20 — Floats forever, skates on command, works when nothing is hatching.