Jun 23, 2026

Hey everyone.   Here is my blog post for Episode 54: Pics and Patterns for Black Quills.  

First let's take a look at the nymph.  Here is a nice black quill nymph with a scale in centimeters. It is hard to see, but note the length of the antennae and the nice dark wing cases.  That suggests he (or she) is likely to hatch soon.  (Well, if he (or she) wasn't pickled in alcohol since 2003).   Also fyi, this one was collected in a pond - which make sense, they migrate from moving water to still water to hatch.  In contrast, the next specimen was collected in a stream, and you'll note the lack of developed wing pads (noting it was also collected earlier in the season). 

OK, here is a nice pic of a live specimen showing off those gills.  Note how the first gill consists of two simple fibers.  Then the following gills are those beautiful flowing gills that move so much when they are alive.  

Here is a nicer picture of that first specimen showing off the gills.  Of course I'm sure you are curious about the big black innertube looking thing.  That is actually a rubber O-ring that you use for plumbing.  I pop those in my petri dish when I'm sorting specimens to make a petri dish within my petri dish. 

Before we jump into patterns, let's look at some of my feeble attempts at art.  Here is what a black quill nymph should look like!  

Here's my interpretation of those first gill segments. 

And more interestingly, here are the other abdominal gills. Note that it is not just one leaflike gill .. each one has two gills. That helps with that feathery appearance.

OK, let's talk about some flies.  In my humble opinion, this is what a black quill nymph should look like.  And I'm stunned I've not seen any patterns like this.  Compare this fly to the pics.  It is even more dramatic when you are looking at a live nymph and comparing it to a video of the fly in moving water.  Unfortunately, I don't think I can upload a video in this blog.  There must be a way - I should figure that out.  

Eric's Black Quill Nymph

Thread: Brown

Hook: 9672 size 12 or 10 or equivalent. 

Tail: Drake Hooded Merganser flank feathers.  You absolutely must use these.  You cannot substitute anything else for this.  Good luck finding them.  I'll sell them to you for $5 a feather.  OK, I popped a hooded merganser last duck season (not a lot of meat on them) - feel free to use brown dyed mallard flank

Abdomen - brown dyed ostrich herl, wrapped around the hook shank. 

Wing case - I used turkey tail feather.  I liked the mottled pattern and I had some

Abdomen - red squirrel dubbing with guard hairs.  

Bead - 1/8 tungsten. 

I've really been enjoying Euronymphing lately.  It is a fun, new way to fish and most importantly, it is effective.  That said, I came across this fly as an imitation of a Black Quill nymph for Euronymphing.  It is a black quill, right?  So it must be black. And therefore it must have a black quill body.  While I'm sure this fly catches fish ... I don't think it is because it imitates a black quill nymph.  Compare this pattern to the pics.  

Hook: Fulling Mill FM50 27 Size 10

Bead: 1/8 tungsten black

Tail: I used black rooster fibers

Body:  It calls for black dyed polish quills.   I used a combination of stripped peacock quill and a dyed black peacock quill.  I coated it with UV glue and zapped it.

Thorax:  Black dubbed Rabbit dubbing.  

Again, I'm sure this catches fish, and I'm looking forward to using it.  But as a black quill? 

As I pick flies to showcase, I often choose to select from several of the books I own.  I've picked two for this round.  Tony Hellekson's book - Fish Flies an Encylopedia of the Fly Tier's Art.  It delivers.  719 pages of more flies than you could possibly need.  The second book I chose is from is an obscure western "book" called The Fly-Fisher's Manual by Kenn M. Ligas.  I love this book.  It is more of a binder with plastic folder sheets in it.  Must have cost a fortune to produce and market.  He had some kind of deal with Scintilla dubbing, so all his flies relate to the "proper" color of scintilla dubbing - identified by the proper Scintilla numbering system.  I have to admit, I have this tension between practical easy flies that I fish with vs. overly complicated unnecessary flies often found in the literature.  Honestly, that is some of the fun of fly tying right?  His subtitle says it all "A new and consummate guide to Matching the Hatch and more"   Really - how can you resist that.  I love this guy. 

Anyway here is a nice nymph I actually like from Hellekson's book.  

Hook: Size 10 to 12 Nymph hook - I used a 9672

Thread: Brown

Tail: Mallard flank dyed wood duck

Ribbing: Heavy olive thread - I used kevlar

Abdomen: Dubbed black lamb's wool.  Which is an interesting choice given wool is relatively buoyant.  I would almost swap for rabbit. 

Wing Case; Mottled Brown Turkey Tail Tied over thorax

Thorax - Dubbed black lamb's wool

Legs:  Dyed olive speckled Guinea hen barbs.  Which I did not have, so I think I just folded the turkey tail barbs down to make the legs. 

And here is a nymph from Ligas' book.  Complicated to tie, but at least I think he has seen a Leptophlebia nymph: 

Hook:  A standard nymph hook. I think I used a 3906b in size 10

Thread: Dark Brown

Tails: Barred Wood Duck Flank (or dyed mallard which is what I used)

Abdomen: Scintilla #01 or #29.  (I don't think Scintilla exists anymore.  I used black rabbit dubbing, which, frankly I think is good enough). But then he ties dark olive marabout along the sides and lashes that down with gold wire.  I think this is a clever way to tie the gills, if a little fussy. 

Wing case:  Again an overly complicated wingcase tied from Scintilla #80 or, I like this, a brown feather section.  I used turkey quill. 

Thorax: Scintilla #01 or #29 (I used black bunny)

Legs: Olive brown feather fibers.  Lacking that I just folded the turkey quill fibers underneath.  

Here is a nice Black Quill Emerger from Hellekson's Book 

Hook: Standard Dry Fly - I used 94840 size 12-10

Tail: Mallard dyed wood duck - which I tied a little full .. so I will argue that it represent the spent shuck of the nymph rather than the tails .. yeah, that's it.

Body Dubbed Black Rabbit 

Legs: Dyed brown mallard barbs.  I used the same flank feathers from a hooded merganser.  Didn't have to dye them.

Wing Case: Dyed brown marabou, tied as a wing case and then folded back. 

How this is supposed to float, I have no idea.  Rabbit and ostrich herl are generally not buoyant.  If I were to modify it, I'd use CDC rather than ostrich herl and a buoyant synthetic dubbing for the body. 

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the dun.  (Well, I do, somewhere, I just have no idea where as I described in the podcast).  Anyway - it struck me that a Black Wulff would make a nice imitation of a dun.  Normally the Black Wulff is tied with pink floss for the body, which I couldn't do for a Black Quill Imitation - even tho it may make no difference given fish are seeing the fly back lit from the surface. Anyway - her is my modified version: 

Modified Black Wulff

Hook: Standard Dry Fly - 94840 Size 10

Wings: Black buck tail

Tail: Black Duck Tail

Body: Charcoal Dubbing.  This charcoal dubbing is particularly difficult to work with.  You could also use black floss or a quill body like the following fly if you want to imitate the banded body

Hackle: Black Rooster. 

After writing this out, and seeing all the black materials I'm thinking the Johnny Cash Wulff might be a better name. 

Here is a nice version of a black quill dun. This is from Hekkelson's book.  He has some nice patterns in there.   This particular one is almost like a black gnat, but instead of a dubbing body it is stripped peacock quill with silver ribbing.  

Hook: Standard dry fly - I used 94840 size 10

Wings:  split duck quill

Tail: Black hackle fibers

Ribbing: Silver wire

Body: Stripped peacock Quill 

I do have a picture (not a great one) of a Black Quill Spinner.  This is the specimen I mentioned in the early part of the podcast I collected on the Kennebec River.

Then lastly, here is a spinner imitation from Ligas' book.  

Hook: Dry Fly - 94840 Size 10

Tail: Brown Rooster Hackle Fibers

Body: Beaver dubbing.  I might choose something darker next time. 

Wings: Dun Antron

Alright - with that I'm going to give up.  Hope you found this useful!