Ready to Fish

It is about a 120- degree turn from my desk and computer here at the Grey Drake. The tying vise sits mere feet away waiting, often with a few tools and an unconsolidated pile of feathers, fur, and hooks lying next to it. Although probably counter to whatever productivity I am working towards at the computer, it is a welcome relief to spin around and sit in front of the vise. The four-pane glass window in front of my desk looks out over the horse pasture across East Millers Cove and onto the East slope of Chilhowie Mountain. As spring nears and sun’s warm light warms the view from the window, the ever-present urge to spin around to the vise grows stronger. Fish will be getting this same antsy feeling before long, and as the first few insects of the year emerge from the stream bottoms, those that dally too long on the water’s surface will be eaten. The thought of the first rise rings on a mountain stream trigger an immediate turn to the tying vise.

The little black stoneflies and caddis will show first and the blue winged olives are always around. But the one we wait for with fevered anticipation is the Quill Gordon. They are a slate grey colored fly with a dark grey dun upright wing when they first emerge from the rocky stream bottom. Relative to most other mayfly species, Quill Gordons are quite large. On average I use a size 16 fly in the Smokies, flies that in all are about half an inch long. Quill Gordon patterns range up to size twelve and can measure a whopping full inch long…again, a large fly is a relative size comparison. But to a fly fisherman ridden with cabin fever, these predecessors of spring can look like small birds flopping on the rippled river’s surface. Just the thought of hungry fish rising to the surface with frenzied excitement will, again, require me to spin back over my shoulder and sit down to the vise.

We can be as creative at the vise as we want. With just about any bug, you can come up with multiple ways to use feathers, fur, and other shiny materials to fool a trout into thinking it is in fact sustenance. A little bit of knowledge of any specific bug can go a long way in tying and developing a pattern for a specific insect. Quill Gordons are a large, broad-bodied nymph. A standard pheasant tail or even a shaggy dark colored hare’s ear nymph will fool a trout looking for these bugs in their underwater form. In fairly unique fashion, quills emerge on the river bottom. They shed their exoskeleton on the rocks below and swim to the surface, wings and all. Swinging dark colored soft hackles will bring fish to hand before, during, and after the “hatch.” But when it is happening, when the fish are looking up and they are willing to eat…cabin fever is best treated with high floating, dry flies! The fish do take a bit to catch on to their presence. The long winter will have them focused on the bottom and low in the water column for food. As the emerging insects make their showing more and more common, the fish will begin to look to the surface. When they do, a variety of patterns will work. Quill Gordon patterns tied of dark dun colored chicken feathers, wood duck flank, and peacock or moose mane are the go to patterns, although, the standard grey Adams patterns will catch fish as well. Even as I sit here writing this article, splashy rises again fill by mind’s eye, and I will have to revisit my plaid covered chair at the tying table.

It is a fun time of year. We spend many hours on the river’s edge sitting on a comfy rock or log and simply watching, watching for the first few rise rings of the coming spring. Sure, the fishing didn’t stop throughout the winter. In fact, it was great. But the Quill Gordon hatch brings with it many things. First and foremost is the symbolic breaking of winter’s grasp on the mountains and streams and the first great dry fly fishing opportunities of the year, but also a signaling of a new year in an angler’s book: a clean slate for most. We write our stories in chapters each time we step into the stream. For many these first few days with hopes of Quill Gordons bring our first stories of the year. The hatches can be spotty and short lived, sometimes hard to time, and sometimes lack luster even when conditions are perfect, but that is what makes for the great stories - those of when it all went as planned and you hit it right. The large grey Quill Gordons of late winter and early spring bring the first chance of the epic day that we all chase. As I look over my shoulder, there sits the tying table. There are three bushy bugs fresh out of the vise. I don’t think I will sit back in front of it again today….I might just grab those three flies and go find a comfy rock….and wait for rings….

Small fish and big memories…

Alex Quick, Fly Fishing Program Manager