nymph
Quilldigon
- Sizes
- #14–#20
- Imitates
- baetis nymph · mayfly nymph
- Origin
- Devin Olsen
A dense perdigon nymph with a Polish Quill segmented body, pearl Sulky tag, and black-nail-polish wingcase. Imitates small dark mayfly nymphs in rivers worldwide.
Recipe
This is one dressing. Tie it in other colors to match the hatch in front of you.
- HookDohiku 644 / HDJ / 301 / 302SP — size 16 · Dohiku
- BeadCopper or Silver Slotted Tungsten
- ThreadVeevus 16/0 — Olive or Black · Semperfli
- TailCoq de Leon — 3-4 fibers
- BodyPolish Quills — Olive / Natural / Amber · Polish Quills
- TagPearl Sulky Tinsel
- ShellbackBlack Nail PolishNot a tying material per se — apply with brush
- HotspotFl. Orange 16/0 Veevus (optional)
Workbench
Variants
Swipe to see In box and Add
| Size | Bead | Body | In box | Add to box |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #14 | — | — | — | — |
| #16 | — | — | — | — |
| #18 | — | — | — | — |
| #20 | — | — | — | — |
At the vise
Tying notes are not on file for this pattern.
Tying video
Fishing now on
Rivers whose hatch chart names this pattern this month. Names and sizes only.
Not named on this month's hatch charts.
On the water
The drab version works on picky fish; add the hot-spot variation when you need to pull a fish out of a lie.
History
Nearly every trout river on the planet holds small dark mayflies. Devin Olsen began tying the Quilldigon around 2014 as he was experimenting with the Spanish perdigon style. The Polish-quill body looks uncannily like the banded segmentation of a natural mayfly nymph. You can tie it fully drab to be 100% imitative, but Devin finds even better success by adding a pearl Sulky tag or a fluorescent-orange thread hot-spot collar. It's one of the flies he fishes most often from his nymph box.