Featured Lunch Item: The Quill Gordon

The Quill Gordon Dry Fly

The cold winter has finally shaken off its icy grip. We had a long week of sunny skies with warm
temperatures. The Davidson is flowing near ideal levels and the daytime temps are reaching
into the mid 40s.

Earlier in the week I drove around looking for hatches and rising trout. Checking the Davidson I
walked down to a likely spot. The water looked clear and clean with that winter blue-green
color. I waited. I was just about to go back to the car when I saw it. Not a trout, but a large
Mayfly floating down the river. After seemingly forever, it lifted off the water and flew
upstream. I was hoping a large trout would come up to take a meal.

After several days of office work, tying flies, and another project, I decided to see if Jeremy
would join me for a day of fishing. He has been wanting to explore another river, so we spent
the morning there. Nothing. The water was too cold still. Although the Quill Gordons begin
hatching around 45°, the hatch really kicks in at 48°. This water was still too cold. I suggested
we head to the Davidson since I saw bugs a few days prior.

We hit the water around 1 pm so the hatches should be coming off. It did take Jeremy long to
spot a riser on the far side of a long pool. I watched as he made a long cast. The fish was
reluctant. I moved upstream toward the head of the pool. I caught some movement, a flash,
and turned in the nick of time to see a fish disappear in the water. I moved upstream into a
better casting position. I tied on the trusty Quill Gordon pattern I tie. It isn’t a traditional
pattern, some people doubt it would catch a fish but it does. Today was no different. After just
a couple of casts, I had the first fish of the day…a bow, small but marked with beautiful colors. I
moved upstream some more and made a cast. The backlight illuminated the fly on the water. I
was thinking to myself, it looks so realistic, when the second trout took the fly. I had two in the
net if I had remembered to bring the net.

Several fish later, I was a long way upstream. I was looking over some water to decide whether
to fish it or not when there was a rise. It wasn’t where I thought a big fish would hold but it was
worth checking. Sure enough, a two-inch trout exploded on the fly. So maybe there are fish
here. The run wasn’t big but there was a deep spot on the other side. I made some casts. The
drift wasn’t good, the fly was dragging in the water. I waded up. Now I was facing
downstream, a position that I knew was good to cast from. I made a hook cast and let the fly
drift over the same spot. I was shocked when a large brown confidently hammered the fly. As
I fought the trout, I had a nagging feeling I would regret not bringing my net. I slid the trout
next to me and held it steady as I slowly put my hand on it’s belly and lifted it out of the water.
A beautiful brown trout and a fitting end to my first day of spring dry fly season…and all the
trout were caught on a Quill Gordon!

Written by Guide Patrick Weaver