At last, I am gathering rod and reel, flies waders, boots and staff to take my first steps in bright water for the 2026 dry fly season. Though my fly boxes are well stocked, I am tying two Quill Gordon’s this morning.
I have the hackle tails and dyed wild turkey biots wrapped, with a durable coating applied and drying as I write. Yes, these are my 100-Year Duns, and those tied I refer to as the Dyed Wild variations that betray the deep yellowish hue amid the banding observed along the hallowed Beaver Kill.
I can see that my supply of my special Quill Gordon dubbing is running spare. I will need to blend more before next year; a sour yellow, a wisp of gray, and a touch of sparkle in each hue, a good winter task. Now it is finally spring, and time for fishing!
I have two rods waiting in their tubes, their ferrules cleaned and checked, but that special Leonard seems to be tugging at my thoughts now that the day has finally arrived. I have promised to fish that one with a number six line after a brief comparison in the yard, and with the river’s flow and a wise extra measure of care considering the turns of my life have taken the past month and a half, that mysterious ACM seems ideal.
The two Quill Gordons? All reports have been telling of sparse mayflies and sparser rises, and I have found a special magic in flies tied the morning of a fishing trip. This pair will find my tippet before any others, waiting for the first season’s rise. That magic? Well, it can take something special to tempt a chilly, winter weary brown trout to rise to take a lone taste of Gordon’s Quill miraculously laid before him. Hope and wishing isn’t necessarily quite enough to make that happen, so that magic can be all the difference in just how wide my smile shall be at the end of this first day.
One more ferrule cleaning is in order, and if my hands should stray to polish the varnished bamboo, forgive my stretching out of these last few moments and finally fuss with my tackle, for this day has been a much longer time coming.
Bright Waters Catskill 