Blue Quills

This is the best Spring hatch after the Quill Gordons (Epeorus pleuralis) but before the Hendricksons (Ephemerella subvaria) in most parts of the East, although it can overlap with both. The Blue Quills are small mayflies (hook size 16-20) but they can hatch in incredible numbers at a time when eager trout are just beginning to look to the surface after a hungry winter.

This species produces fishable hatches, but it is not well-known in angling literature. This is due primarily to its range, which consists only of California and parts of Oregon. It is a small (by western Paraleptophlebia standards) Spring emerger that fills the niche taken by Paraleptophlebia heteronea in the rest of the West.

This species is the primary spring emerging Paraleptophlebia throughout the western region. Outside of California and parts of Oregon, if you run into a little blue winged brown bodied fly with three tails in the spring, it's probably this.

There are many species in this genus of mayflies, and some of them produce excellent hatches. Commonly known as Blue Quills or Mahogany Duns, they include some of the first mayflies to hatch in the Spring and some of the last to finish in the Fall.

In the East and Midwest, their small size (16 to 20, but mostly 18's) makes them difficult to match with old techniques. In the 1950s Ernest Schwiebert wrote in Matching the Hatch:

"The Paraleptophlebia hatches are the seasonal Waterloo of most anglers, for without fine tippets and tiny flies an empty basket is assured."

Fortunately, modern anglers with experience fishing hatches of tiny Baetis and Tricorythodes mayflies are better prepared for eastern Paraleptophlebia. It's hard to make sense of so many species, but only one is very important and others can be considered in groups because they often hatch together:

• Paraleptophlebia adoptiva is by far the most important species of this genus in the two regions and is an early Spring emerger.


• Paraleptophlebia mollis, Paraleptophlebia guttata, and Paraleptophlebia strigula complement each other in late spring and early summer.


• Paraleptophlebia debilis and Paraleptophlebia praepedita occur together in the fall.

In the West, it is a different story. For starters the species run much larger and can be imitated with flies as large as size 12, often size 14, and rarely smaller than 16. Another difference is the West has species with tusks! Many anglers upon first seeing them think they are immature burrowing nymphs of the species Ephemera simulans aka Brown Drake. With their large tusks, feathery gills, and slender uniform build, it's an easy mistake to make. Using groups again:

• The most important species is Paraleptophlebia debilis. This large (for the genus) Fall emerger can be found throughout the region. It is often accompanied by one of the slightly larger tusked species. Depending on locale, this can be Paraleptophlebia bicornuta (the most common), Paraleptophlebia packii or Paraleptophlebia helena. Check out their hatch pages for distribution information.


• Spring is the season for the smaller Paraleptophlebia heteronea throughout most of the region with Paraleptophlebia gregalis filling this niche in California and parts of Oregon.

This species often hatches together with Paraleptophlebia mollis and Paraleptophlebia strigula.

This species often hatches together with Paraleptophlebia mollis and Paraleptophlebia guttata.

This is the first really good dry-fly opportunity of the season for most Eastern anglers. They are large mayflies and they have good points of vulnerability both underwater and on the surface.