Bodkin / Patterns

Quill Gordon

Dry Fly · Trout · Intermediate · 4 versions

Catskill Dressing

  • Hook Standard dry fly, 12-16
  • Thread Primrose/gray 8/0

Materials

  • Wings Wood duck flank (upright and divided)
  • Tail Medium blue dun hackle fibers (one shank length)
  • Body Stripped peacock eye quill (lacquered)
  • Hackle Medium blue dun hackle (3-4 turns)

How to tie it

  1. Mount hook, start thread, and set a bunch of wood duck flank upright and divided at the 70% mark. The wings are the fly, so measure them one shank length tall.
  2. Return thread to the bend and tie in a sparse blue dun tail one shank length long.
  3. Tie in a single stripped, lacquered peacock quill at the bend; wrap it forward in touching turns for a crisp segmented body, stopping behind the wings.
  4. Tie in a medium blue dun hackle and take 2 turns behind and 2 in front of the wings.
  5. Build a small head and whip finish.

Substitutions

  • Body instead of Stripped peacock quill: Semperfli Quill Subs — Pre-printed quill, way more durable; Stripped hackle stem — Different banding pattern; Veevus Body Quill — Thread-based, won't break
  • Wing instead of Wood duck flank: Dyed mallard (lemon) — Standard wood duck sub; Gadwall flank — Similar barring

Other versions

3 more in the app: Classic Recipe, Lucian Vasies, Gregg Dressing (1940).

Tying videos

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