Above photo: A #20 Sulphur dun dubbed completely with Kapok will float like a cork.
(Click on any images below for magnification)
The following entry is dedicated to A.K. Best, who was my instructor and friend and who was extremely influential to me as a young fly tyer in my 20's. You will also see his influences in this sulphur pattern. He taught me pretty much everything, including the kitchen sink, literally, because I spent a lot of time dying and bleaching there! I will miss you Archie.
We hear so much about “getting your fly down in the surface film” ad nauseam. Currently, there is so much editorial and video content focused on getting your fly into low-rider stage rather than in sport mode. I honestly believe the old hackled mayfly on its tippy toes is being overlooked. Let's face it, the quintessential standard adult mayfly with a traditional hackle collar just isn't getting the accolades it used to nowadays. Don't get me wrong, getting your fly down in the surface film has its advantages, but depending on the hatch and phase, the old standard collared hackled adult mayfly is a must-have. This is especially true when the airplanes are coming off the carrier deck, and the trout are zeroed in on the adults taking flight. Having the adult duns queued up alongside your emergers is a must in every mayfly section in your fly box. Having these very petite adult mayflies in your box is an absolute must.
Above photo: A single strand of Pearsall's gold silk used as a rib for the abdomen.
Speaking of mayfly patterns in this entry, I'm specifically talking about sulphurs, those creamy little mayflies that sporadically come up and rear their tiny heads just when you think the mayfly hatches have come and gone. May and June are the typical months, but wait, there's more! Hatches in July and August in spring creeks and cold tailwaters in the Northeast continue till fall. Now to clarify Sulphurs and PMD's are counterparts, Sulphurs refer to our Eastern variants, and PMDs refer to the Western variants. For the sake of this entry, I am referring to and speaking specifically about our Eastern patterns.
Above photo: A sparsely hackled #18 sulphur always pays big dividends.
Sulphurs tend to be on the subcompact size in general and lean towards a watery yellow, often with an orange-yellow or peach cast. The sulphur is truly the southern belle of the Ephemerella family. Speaking of glamour pusses, often these flies are overdressed. These are very petite mayflies, and if you're fishing in spring creeks, one needs to be mindful of proportion. They are not as demonstrative as, let's say, a March Brown, which in my mind is the hyperactive middle child of mayflies.
Above photo: Notice the pronounced, darker peach-colored Kapok/Beaver Belly thorax, a tight wing set, and a couple of sparse turns of hackle that keep this little #18 TMC 531 hook high-floating. This is a typical way A.K. Best would tie his spinner patterns, wings cant out horizontally, using a dyed quill for the abdomen, then finished with a few criss-cross wraps of hackle around the thorax.
Above photo: You can easily mix a peach colored Kapok mixture by using rust- orange Beaver Belly and any yellow cast of Kapok for thoraxes. I often use the peach mixture for the entire abdomen and thorax, depending on the season. I have found that at least where I am located, our sulfurs go from peach to a slightly darker shade in the later summer months. It's not uncommon for sporadic sulfur hatches through late August. I live right down the road from the Mad River, and in late August 2025, I found many specimens on the hood of my car in the morning, peach-colored and leaning towards the darker end of the spectrum. Kapok mixes very well with other natural fibers!
Above photo: A #18 sulphur dun using CDL Pardo for tailing fibers. Typically, I tie three fibers and use a single strand of thread to create a loop around the middle fiber, splitting the tail perfectly every time. This method, although somewhat tedious, ensures the fibers stay put indefinitely.
So let's be real: if you are living in the eastern half of the U.S., sizes #16 down to, let's say, #20 as a general standard. One of the most popular fly patterns for the sulphur over the last two decades is the Breadline. It is popularly viewed as an emerger pattern, but the profile of this fly from below can easily be deciphered as an adult resting in the surface film. I will go out on a limb and say this pattern is a very successful general-purpose sulphur pattern. Although when you are knee deep in crystal clear water with very educated brown trout, all bets are off.
Above photo: This small pullet neck I purchased from A.K. Best back in 1995. I have a large bin of pullet necks from A.K. that are all white, and I continued over the years to dye them for wings for various adult mayfly patterns. I dyed the one above here, as seen in the photo, with a yellow cream tint specifically for sulfur adults. These necks look different in shape because they come from a very young hen, so the typical teardrop shape is more like the top of an exclamation point.
Above photo: Notice how much more rounded the tips are on pullet feathers; the web is much more pronounced as well. These feathers I dyed specifically for sulphur duns using Ritt tan mixed with Ritt yellow 1:1 and left in a dye bath for around 5 minutes at 130 degrees.
Above photo: Hen tips always provide great stability, ensuring the fly lands upright and proud. I tie most of my adult patterns using pullet tips. A pullet is a young hen; the feathers are round and very webby at the tips. Most hen necks sold commercially have much pointier tips. Pullet can typically be purchased directly from a chicken farm.
~Kapok Sulphur Dun~
Thread: Semperfli Nano Silk 18/0
Hook: Tiemco 531 short shank wide gape #18-#24
Tail: CDL Light Ginger Pardo
Abdomen: Yellow cream Kapok
Rib: Single strand Gold Pearsall's silk thread
Wings: Pullet tips cream
Tail: CDL Pardo fibers x3
Thorax: Peach Kapok (mix yellow Kapok with red Kapok)
Hackle: Light golden ginger
(click on any images below for magnification)
Above photo: A.K. Best is well known for his hen tip wing duns using both quill and dubbed abdomens. Back in 1995, I met A.K., and for many years we remained pen pals, using both snail mail and email. The internet was still in its infancy back in the early 90's, so the handwritten correspondence was the norm. I kept all of his letters he sent to me, as seen in the photo above and below. He was extremely influential in my fly-tying endeavors as a youngster. He nicknamed me “Hoppa” short for grasshopper. I have been a designer and fine artist all my life, and A.K., and I would have fairly long correspondence about color theory and art history. I was deeply saddened upon his passing. I miss him greatly. Above photo: A.K. was a bamboo nut like me, so we were kindred spirits from the get-go. Archie was a great instructor; he spent time really explaining to me the very, very fine details of not only dyeing materials but also handling them to best serve a multitude of fly patterns. His books can still be purchased, of course, and I highly recommend all of them.
So the adult sulphur dun has been a bit of a lifelong obsession with me, to say the least. But the keyword that echoes in my brain, as A.K. Best best describes, is “gossamer,” and “waxy like the natural” proportion is key! Keep it simple and sparse, and it will pay dividends. This is a very simple pattern that packs a punch in smaller hook sizes. With educated brown trout, less is better. In Sulphurs Part 2, I will be taking the popular Breadline pattern developed in 2006 by Grant Bench and using as a benchmark for a sulphur emerger pattern that I have tinkered with for quite some time. In Part 3 will be a sulpher sub-surface pattern that is a selective trout killer.
Thanks for letting me share~ Clint Bova. www.cjbovarods.com
