Sulphurs

We have recently endured a hot streak that has dropped the flows and heated up the water a bit in the local creeks.  This has sparked the emergence of the sulphurs, along with a hundred other aquatic bugs, but sulphurs will soon be the popular fish food.  

Check the spider webs on your local creek to see if you get your own sulphur hatch...

You can also do a kick sample... here is an example of a sulphur nymph.  Nymphs are generally #18 - 16 and are dark brown to almost black in color.

This time of year the duns will be between a #16 and #14 (in another few weeks the small version will begin to hatch #20-#18), and they will vary in color.  Some streams will produce a brown/tan with a hint of yellow on the bottom, and others will produce bugs that have a bright lemon yellow, and of course there will be every color in between!  Before you tie 2 dozen dry flies go to the stream and take pictures, observe, and bring some samples of the colors you have.  Match them up, and then go home and tie.

When tying, and fishing, a sulphur hatch think emergers.  Since sulphurs emerge in the hotter months they dry their wings quickly and depart for the stream-side foliage at once.  Rarely if ever do I fish or tie a sulphur dun pattern.  Have a few because you never know, but do not focus your accurate hatch matching abilities on the duns.  Instead focus on the three basic types of emergers, no-wing (half nymph - half dun), the short wing (pictured on the left), and the up-wing emerger (I like to tie a parachute with a shuck.  All represent varies stages of emergence, and you will have to observe and let the trout tell you what they want.  Don't forget about the nymphs either... many times during a sulphur hatch a nymph drifted just below the surface will take many fish.

Feel free to tie patterns from the photos above, but remember the bugs in your stream can be different size and color... the best research is always done off the computer and on the river!