The Blue Quill is a very heavy hatch in the Blue Ridge Mountains (mid March to late April) especially on streams with southern exposure. On unseasonable cold days I’ve seen very many duns that could not pop their wings. They wobbled over to the dry stream banks where they dried their wings. I had to be very careful when I walked up the stream banks so I did not step on the duns.
Several years ago I had my tyer add a small yellow wing to the standard Blue Quill Dry to make it easier to see on the surface on heavily overcast days. The result–Blue Quill Mr. Rapidan Dry Fly.
Flies to Match the Blue Quill Hatch
Blue Quill Dry size 16 & 18
Mr. Rapidan Blue Quill Dry size 16 & 18
Blue Quill Nymph size 16
Pheasant Tail Nymph size 16 & 18
Fish these with a Murray’s Mountain Leader 6ft 5X or 6X or a Murray’s Classic Leader 7.5ft 5X or 6X. For these trout streams I use my exclusive Murray’s Mountain Trout Rod made by the Scott Rod Company. It is 6’10” in a 3-weight 3pc. We have many different 3-weight fly rods in stock in all price ranges to meet your needs.
If you want to learn more about the hatches in Virginia, see my book Trout Fishing in the Shenandoah National Park.