Quill Gordon Ties

[troutslammer]

rleep , thats exactly right about water quality and they are hard to find enough numbers to actually tie one on but i guess you'll have that

 

[afishinado]

RLeep2 wrote:
...having exactly the right fly to match them is a little like having exactly the right dinner jacket to spend the evening with the Prince of Wales.

Great way to put it! Hey, you write as well as RLeeP1, are you guys related? ;-)

For years I've had the same QG flies sitting in my box waiting to be fished.

 

[PaulG]

Guys all great lookin flies, now tell me where I can find some real one's

PaulG

 

[Maurice]

Festus, I like the wings on your QG's but do you find that on the larger #12 or #10 that they could be problematic causing the fly to tip or the fly to spin and thus twist the tippet?

I am going to tie a few your way and see how it goes.

 

[jrcll]

i always see the qg tied catskill style, never parachute style, is it a fast water fly ? there are no streams in the nw part of the state that have qg hatches so i`m clueless as to how to fish them

 

[Festus]

Festus, I like the wings on your QG's but do you find that on the larger #12 or #10 that they could be problematic causing the fly to tip or the fly to spin and thus twist the tippet?

That's the beauty of this Wonder Wing Maurice, they don't twist tippets. As long as you don't overload any cement at the base of the wing, the wing stays fluid when casting. Chauncy Lively and the Beattys recommend no cement. But because they are fragile, I put just a tiny bit of cement at the base. I use hen for my personal ties because I really don't care if a few wing fibers break while I'm fishing the fly. In fact, the more ragged the wings get, the better the fly seems to work. That's especially true on the March Browns. But....if you want the strongest wing, using rooster hackle is the way to go.

If you run into any snags, shoot me a PM and I'll be glad to try 'n help you out.

 

[Festus]

i always see the qg tied catskill style, never parachute style, is it a fast water fly ? there are no streams in the nw part of the state that have qg hatches so i`m clueless as to how to fish them

I tie them in parachute style, except that I use Hares Ear with a touch of olive blended into for the body. QGs begin their emergence in fast water above a pool. Trout key on a feeding lane in these pools, and set themselves up for the emergence. Many times a parachute pattern in the lower, slower reaches of a pool will be the ticket to good fishing.

Also, there are many variations of the Klinkhammer that work great for the QG hatch. One of the best has a yellow body, turkey overlay on the back, yellow rib, brown Zlon tail(not Antron as Antron clumps up when wet and doesn't appear translucent like a shuck), gray para post and dun or grizzly dun hackle.

 

[blueheron]

Nice ties,Festus. I also tie QG duns with hen back when I have the right color. They still pop up in the Poconos, but I haven't seen a thick hatch. Thanks for getting to the point without a lot of fluff or sass. If I can ever figure out the wife's camera I'll post better shots.

 

[Festus]

Nice ties,Festus. I also tie QG duns with hen back when I have the right color. They still pop up in the Poconos, but I haven't seen a thick hatch. Thanks for getting to the point without a lot of fluff or sass. If I can ever figure out the wife's camera I'll post better shots.

Thanks BH. I could never get decent pictures either until I figured the dang camera out. I ended up turning off the flash, and putting the camera in macro or "flower" icon mode, then focusing on the vice jaws instead of the fly itself.

Looking forward to seeing those pictures. Good luck

 

[Festus]

Speaking of QGs and clean water, I just came upon this tidbit that may be of interest to some of you:

Link

About 260 abandoned oil and gas wells were plugged in 2009 under a state program. None of them was in Potter County, where the Pa. Dept. of Environmental Protection has located 125 abandoned mines. Fifty of the mines are in Sharon Township, 42 in Hebron Township, and 11 in Eulalia Township.

 

[Chaz]

Jack,
That pattern and a rusty spinner will catch you all the fish you'd want. You won't need any other patterns. They have to be the right size though. If you find you are having trouble catching, catch a few bugs and take them home. In most streams in PA they are a #14.
I just remembered that they do hatch on the bottom and swim to the top, but your wing and legs are too long. Wings should be as long as the hook shank as are the legs, though on a cold day they sit on the water for ever, so you could clip the legs to the hook shank.
Tie them with Wood duck flank, natural color, not dyed.

 

[Chaz]

While their requirements for good water quality are somewhat high, they can be found in large numbers in NC PA and I've found large hatches of them up until May 15 some years. Becuase they are an early hatch there hatch period does vary quite a bit. But In NC PA from about the third week aof April until May 15. I've seen them as early as the 4th week of March in SE PA. Down here they are over pretty quickly most years.
I'd bet some of Jack's favorite streams have them.

 

[JackM]

Thanks for all the input, guys.

 

[afishinado]

Chaz wrote:
I've seen them as early as the 4th week of March in SE PA. Down here they are over pretty quickly most years.
I'd bet some of Jack's favorite streams have them.

Chaz,

Can you name any SE PA streams that have a QG hatch?

 

[JackM]

I bet he can, but the question is will he?

 

[vern]

Slate Run has 'em. Surrounding watersheds should be explored.
As far as ties, I second what Chaz said.
For dries, if having to choose between dun and spinner, I would emphasize the rusty spinner (dead hemlock needle rusty), with a dark rusty dun hackle, wings optional.
A size 14 royal wulff/coachman dry with reddish (instead of some of the really green) peacock works well, depending on the stream and pressure.
The nymph is a very flat clinger and can be found on the rocks right in the fast flow at the top of a pool.
Wets works well. My confidence lies with a darker blue dun hackle than in the photo, and olive thread.
Size 14 is good.
It's a good hatch/spinner fall for sleeping in.

 

[Maurice]

Chaz wrote:
Jack,
That pattern and a rusty spinner will catch you all the fish you'd want. You won't need any other patterns. They have to be the right size though. If you find you are having trouble catching, catch a few bugs and take them home. In most streams in PA they are a #14.
I just remembered that they do hatch on the bottom and swim to the top, but your wing and legs are too long. Wings should be as long as the hook shank as are the legs, though on a cold day they sit on the water for ever, so you could clip the legs to the hook shank.
Tie them with Wood duck flank, natural color, not dyed.

Chaz, regarding the wood duck flank in the last sentence, is this for the legs or the wing. I ask because the pattern calls for wood duck on both (barred) and while the legs on the natural ARE barred, the wing on the natural is not. This has always baffled me. I am not sure how much it matters but perhaps the presence of barring suggests a smokey color of a dun or slate colored wing like the e. pleuralis has? Or perhaps the dun hackle recommended represents the wing color and the wing color is unimportant....but the hackle usually usually represents the legs on a catskill dry fly tie. So why is it Dun when the legs are tan and barred? I think Theodore gordon screwed this fly all up. I admire him because he seems more like me than I seem like me.....

 

[Festus]

Are we talking about the same Quills Gordons?:-o

 

[troutslammer]

lets not all get too worried about how to tie a quill gordon , a adams will work , some suggest the grey body with a hint of yellow for the dun and yellowish-brown for the spinner , the nymph is olive brown dubbing &amber dyed mallard flanks for the legs, amber dyed wood duck for the tails on nymphs , but a adams will work unless u want to tie a specific quill gordon tie .

 

[JackM]

Any guy who names a mayfly after one of his ties is screwed up. The Quill Gordon natural can be imitated by many ties other than Theodore's, if I am allowed to claim.