Quill Gordon
Fly of the Month 03.26 - Quill Gordon (Catskills style)
Eastern mayfly hatches are prolific in higher pH, nutrient rich streams such as the Catskills and
emerge like clockwork every year with some variation due to water temperatures. Eastern mayfly
hatches are very sparse in lower pH, nutrient poor streams especially in many of the Southern
Appalachians with some mayfly species non-existent or difficult to even notice.
Early dry fly mayfly fly patterns evolved based on the prolific hatches in the Catskills. These
hatches begin in mid-spring with the Quill Gordon Epeorus pleuralis, followed by the
Hendrickson E. subvaria & E. needhami, followed by the Blue Quill Paraleptophlebia adoptiva,
P. mollis & P. debilis et al, followed by the March Brown Maccaffertium vicarium, followed by
the Little Yellow Quill Lecurocuta hebe et al, Heptagenia pulla & H. diabasia, Followed by the
Little Marrayatt Epeorus vitreus and finally the Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca et al,
Stenonema femoratum & Stenacrom interpunctatum.
The following is a hatch chart indicating the size and species of mayfly, the timeframe of their
hatch and the water temperatures that trigger and curtail their hatch:
Catskills Spring and Fall Mayfly Hatches
Size Fly Pattern Timeframe Water Temp. (°F)
10-12 Quill Gordon, Iron Blue Dun Mid Spring to Late Spring 48-53°F
10-14 Hendrickson Mid Spring to Late Spring 49-57°F
14-18 Little Dark Hendrickson Mid Spring to Mid Summer 53-65°F
14-18 Blue Quill, Blue Dun, Mahogany Dun
Mid-Spring to Late Summer 49-60°F, 65-70-65°F
8-10 American March Brown, Ginger Quill
Late Spring to Late Summer 57-70-67°F
10-18 Little Yellow Quill Late Spring to Autumn 59-70-61°F
12-14 Little Marryatt, Pink Cahill Early Summer to Late Summer 60-70-66°F
10-14 Cream Cahill, Light Cahill, Ginger Quill
Early Summer to Autumn 65-70-60°F
Note: In the northern hemisphere, Spring is March 21 to June 20, Summer is June 21 to
September 20 and Fall is September 21 is December 20. Autumn is defined as a sorter fall
season ending at Thanksgiving or about a month shorter than Fall. Water temperatures above
the Mason-Dixon line often shorten the Autumn season to Early November. Water temperatures
below the Mason Dixon line often brings an early spring with first mayfly hatches actually
occurring in Late-March to Early April prior to Mid-Spring.
The most well known Catskills style fly patterns and corresponding mayfly species is the Quill
Gordon which by water temperature one of the first emergence of a mayfly hatch in the Spring.
Prior to the science of determining specific species, any mayfly that hatched in the spring was
considered a blue quill or blue dun. In past Fly of the Month articles we have covered many of
the spring mayfly hatches with a Catskills style fly patterns: February 2025 Hendrickson, March
2012 Blue Quill, July 2023 Ginger Quill and August 2010 Light Cahill.
Mayfly Species Epeorus pleuralis or Quill Gordon
Named after Theodore Gordon, the father of American dry fly fishing, this mayfly is most active
in cool, clear streams in the eastern United States and lower eastern Canada. Its annual,
synchronized hatches often occur in Late-March, April and even Early-May to the far north, with
trout eagerly feeding on both emerging and adult stages.
The Quill Gordon is prized for its beauty, with a slate-gray wing and a mottled, quill-like body.
Quill Gordon nymphs are clinger types, well-suited to fast, rocky streams. They are dark brown
to olive with a streamlined, flat body. Nymph patterns tied on hook sizes 12 to 14 are effective.
The Quill Gordon Epeorus pleuralis nymphs associate with boulders, cobble, or gravel and fast
water, and they are nimble swimmers. Nymphs drift extensively prior to emerging.
As the Quill Gordon Epeorus pleuralis emerges, it rises to the surface quickly but can be
vulnerable while shedding their nymphal shucks. Emerger fly patterns tied on hook sizes 12 to
14 with olive-brown bodies and translucent wings, especially a soft hackle or an emerger style
are ideal. Try swinging or stripping nymphs actively to mimic such action. Also try swinging or
lifting winged wet flies or fish emerger fly patterns much like a dry fly with an occasional twitch.
Quill Gordon
The Adult Quill Gordon is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, with mottled brown or grayish-brown
bodies and slate-gray, upright wings. Dry fly imitations tied on hook sizes 12 to 14 work well,
especially in moderate currents where these adults are likely to float. They are the first good dry
fly opportunity of the season for Eastern anglers.
The Quill Gordon hatch begins typically Early April but occasionally Late-March through May
and occasionally into Early June in the Southern Appalachians. These hatch beginnings moves
into southern Pennsylvania by mid-April. By early May it is going strong in the Catskills, and it
lingers through the rest of May in the Adirondacks and New England.
Once the Quill Gordon Epeorus pleuralis hatch is triggered by several consecutive days of ideal
water temperature (48-53°F), it carries a momentum. The duns continue to hatch from the riffles
and rapids from early afternoon, usually from 1:00 to 2:00 pm but a little later when hot almost
every day, regardless of weather, until they are all done. Quill Gordon duns crawl out of their
nymphal shucks on the stream bottom and rise to the surface as fully formed adults. This
behavior can be well imitated by wet fly imitations and of course the Catskills style dry fly
pattern once floating in the surface film. With a heavy hatch on a given day, look for this mayfly
to lays eggs after mating in a swarm, during mid midday, afternoon, or evening, in fast water.
Fish spent patterns when these spinners fall.
“It is best fished by casting upstream, allowing it to sink, and then twitching it up through the
currents in front of feeding fish. Once the duns are up, they may ride the surface for a long time
and make several failed attempts before getting airborne. Skittering a dry fly accordingly may
improve one's success.” - Swisher and Richards, Selective Trout
The Catskills dry fly is considered the ultimate fly tying challenge (with the exception of full-
dress salmon flies). Getting the proportions correct and utilizing the finest materials to ensure
that silhouette is right, is the key, Starting in the 1890s, Theodore Gordon began defining the
American dry fly, and his Quill Gordon pattern became the first in a line of Catskills School trout
flies representative of American insects.
Fly of the Month 03.26
Quill Gordon
Eastern mayfly hatches are prolific in higher pH, nutrient rich streams such as the Catskills and
emerge like clockwork every year with some variation due to water temperatures. Eastern mayfly
hatches are very sparse in lower pH, nutrient poor streams especially in many of the Southern
Appalachians with some mayfly species non-existent or difficult to even notice.
Early dry fly mayfly fly patterns evolved based on the prolific hatches in the Catskills. These
hatches begin in mid-spring with the Quill Gordon Epeorus pleuralis, followed by the
Hendrickson E. subvaria & E. needhami, followed by the Blue Quill Paraleptophlebia adoptiva,
P. mollis & P. debilis et al, followed by the March Brown Maccaffertium vicarium, followed by
the Little Yellow Quill Lecurocuta hebe et al, Heptagenia pulla & H. diabasia, Followed by the
Little Marrayatt Epeorus vitreus and finally the Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca et al,
Stenonema femoratum & Stenacrom interpunctatum.
The following is a hatch chart indicating the size and species of mayfly, the timeframe of their
hatch and the water temperatures that trigger and curtail their hatch:
Catskills Spring and Fall Mayfly Hatches
Size Fly Pattern Timeframe Water Temp. (°F)
10-12 Quill Gordon, Iron Blue Dun Mid Spring to Late Spring 48-53°F
10-14 Hendrickson Mid Spring to Late Spring 49-57°F
14-18 Little Dark Hendrickson Mid Spring to Mid Summer 53-65°F
14-18 Blue Quill, Blue Dun, Mahogany Dun
Mid-Spring to Late Summer 49-60°F, 65-70-65°F
8-10 American March Brown, Ginger Quill
Late Spring to Late Summer 57-70-67°F
10-18 Little Yellow Quill Late Spring to Autumn 59-70-61°F
12-14 Little Marryatt, Pink Cahill Early Summer to Late Summer 60-70-66°F
10-14 Cream Cahill, Light Cahill, Ginger Quill
Early Summer to Autumn 65-70-60°F
Note: In the northern hemisphere, Spring is March 21 to June 20, Summer is June 21 to
September 20 and Fall is September 21 is December 20. Autumn is defined as a sorter fall
season ending at Thanksgiving or about a month shorter than Fall. Water temperatures above
the Mason-Dixon line often shorten the Autumn season to Early November. Water temperatures
below the Mason Dixon line often brings an early spring with first mayfly hatches actually
occurring in Late-March to Early April prior to Mid-Spring.
The most well known Catskills style fly patterns and corresponding mayfly species is the Quill
Gordon which by water temperature one of the first emergence of a mayfly hatch in the Spring.
Prior to the science of determining specific species, any mayfly that hatched in the spring was
considered a blue quill or blue dun. In past Fly of the Month articles we have covered many of
the spring mayfly hatches with a Catskills style fly patterns: February 2025 Hendrickson, March
2012 Blue Quill, July 2023 Ginger Quill and August 2010 Light Cahill.
Mayfly Species Epeorus pleuralis or Quill Gordon
Named after Theodore Gordon, the father of American dry fly fishing, this mayfly is most active
in cool, clear streams in the eastern United States and lower eastern Canada. Its annual,
synchronized hatches often occur in Late-March, April and even Early-May to the far north, with
trout eagerly feeding on both emerging and adult stages.
The Quill Gordon is prized for its beauty, with a slate-gray wing and a mottled, quill-like body.
Quill Gordon nymphs are clinger types, well-suited to fast, rocky streams. They are dark brown
to olive with a streamlined, flat body. Nymph patterns tied on hook sizes 12 to 14 are effective.
The Quill Gordon Epeorus pleuralis nymphs associate with boulders, cobble, or gravel and fast
water, and they are nimble swimmers. Nymphs drift extensively prior to emerging.
As the Quill Gordon Epeorus pleuralis emerges, it rises to the surface quickly but can be
vulnerable while shedding their nymphal shucks. Emerger fly patterns tied on hook sizes 12 to
14 with olive-brown bodies and translucent wings, especially a soft hackle or an emerger style
are ideal. Try swinging or stripping nymphs actively to mimic such action. Also try swinging or
lifting winged wet flies or fish emerger fly patterns much like a dry fly with an occasional twitch.
Quill Gordon
The Adult Quill Gordon is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, with mottled brown or grayish-brown
bodies and slate-gray, upright wings. Dry fly imitations tied on hook sizes 12 to 14 work well,
especially in moderate currents where these adults are likely to float. They are the first good dry
fly opportunity of the season for Eastern anglers.
The Quill Gordon hatch begins typically Early April but occasionally Late-March through May
and occasionally into Early June in the Southern Appalachians. These hatch beginnings moves
into southern Pennsylvania by mid-April. By early May it is going strong in the Catskills, and it
lingers through the rest of May in the Adirondacks and New England.
Once the Quill Gordon Epeorus pleuralis hatch is triggered by several consecutive days of ideal
water temperature (48-53°F), it carries a momentum. The duns continue to hatch from the riffles
and rapids from early afternoon, usually from 1:00 to 2:00 pm but a little later when hot almost
every day, regardless of weather, until they are all done. Quill Gordon duns crawl out of their
nymphal shucks on the stream bottom and rise to the surface as fully formed adults. This
behavior can be well imitated by wet fly imitations and of course the Catskills style dry fly
pattern once floating in the surface film. With a heavy hatch on a given day, look for this mayfly
to lays eggs after mating in a swarm, during mid midday, afternoon, or evening, in fast water.
Fish spent patterns when these spinners fall.
“It is best fished by casting upstream, allowing it to sink, and then twitching it up through the
currents in front of feeding fish. Once the duns are up, they may ride the surface for a long time
and make several failed attempts before getting airborne. Skittering a dry fly accordingly may
improve one's success.” - Swisher and Richards, Selective Trout
The Catskills dry fly is considered the ultimate fly tying challenge (with the exception of full-
dress salmon flies). Getting the proportions correct and utilizing the finest materials to ensure
that silhouette is right, is the key, Starting in the 1890s, Theodore Gordon began defining the
American dry fly, and his Quill Gordon pattern became the first in a line of Catskills School trout
flies representative of American insects.
Fly of the Month 03.26
Quill Gordon