Black Quill - Leptophlebia cupida. 2 May 2025.

[Tups]

My daughter found this black quill dun in our back yard today, 2 May 2025. We are located about 100 yards from a small freestone stream in northern Mifflin County, PA.

 

[Tups]

Size 12 by the way.

 

[salmo]

It’s a beauty. I’ve never encountered one before.

 

[riverwhy]

Very cool!

 

[DGC]

Not sure if it's the effect of the camera, but the body of this bug seems particularly robust compared with other duns. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tups]

Quite a meaty morsel indeed. I had been fishing this same watershed just the day before and had a big fish day ( numbers and size) using a Purple Spider and an Iron Blue, both in size 14. Either of these patterns could imitate this natural fly, though I had not noticed the natural while fishing. But I had noticed little black caddis size 16.
And just a few days prior, back at home, I had noticed a swarm of large mayfly spinners over my driveway just at dusk. I now assume those spinners were Leptophlebia cupida.

 

[sandflyx]

black quill dry or a black gnat dry will work great for this fly.