Here is a Kelson Sun Fly (yellow version) as I told Fred to check out. It is a very good fly in bright sun, low-water conditions during summer and fall. I fish it on dry line with a long leader of about 17 feet. It works best in riffly water and tail outs that are less than 4 feet deep. Also, remember to tie it small, this is tied on a #10 hook. It should never be tied larger than a #8 and I found it works best in #10 and #12, which incidently coincides with the size Kelson recommends (he says it should be never larger than 3/4" and that is is better when tied 1/2" or smaller).
The Kelson Sun Fly is found is his book "The Salmon Fly" published in 1895 and republished several times since. The book is available through Fly Fisher's Classic Library, which is where I got my copy 8 years ago when they first released it. It is well worth the money for anyone interested in Featherwing, full-dressed flies.
The "Sun Fly" by Kelson can be tied in red, blue, orange, yellow, and purple variants. To change it to the other variants: 10 change the floss tag to the color of the variant (i.e. to red for the red variant or purple for the purple variant); 2) change the red body yarn to orange or blue for the orange and blue variants respectively; 3) change the yellow yarn to purple for the purple version; and 4) change the blue and yellow Macaw horns to scarlet macaw on the red, orange, and purple versions if you tie the horns on the fly.
The blue and yellow Macaw horns tied over the wings on the original (as it was tied on pictured fly and my prefered way to tie and fish it) can be left off with little or no change to its effectiveness.
Anyhow, here is the Kelson Sun Fly (yellow version)
The Kelson Sun Fly is found is his book "The Salmon Fly" published in 1895 and republished several times since. The book is available through Fly Fisher's Classic Library, which is where I got my copy 8 years ago when they first released it. It is well worth the money for anyone interested in Featherwing, full-dressed flies.
The "Sun Fly" by Kelson can be tied in red, blue, orange, yellow, and purple variants. To change it to the other variants: 10 change the floss tag to the color of the variant (i.e. to red for the red variant or purple for the purple variant); 2) change the red body yarn to orange or blue for the orange and blue variants respectively; 3) change the yellow yarn to purple for the purple version; and 4) change the blue and yellow Macaw horns to scarlet macaw on the red, orange, and purple versions if you tie the horns on the fly.
The blue and yellow Macaw horns tied over the wings on the original (as it was tied on pictured fly and my prefered way to tie and fish it) can be left off with little or no change to its effectiveness.
Anyhow, here is the Kelson Sun Fly (yellow version)