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Written tying guide

Matt Grobert’s yellow sulphur dressing

6 numbered steps and a complete materials list for this dressing.

Read the tying steps
Emerger / Pattern notes

Sulphur Emerger

A low-riding yellow mayfly emerger with a trailing shuck and upright hair wing.

The source index labels a yellow Sulphur Emerger without a recipe. This page uses Matt Grobert’s documented dressing as a specific, reproducible example of the fly type.

At the vise
Intermediate
Common sizes
#14–16
From hook to fly

At the vise.

6 steps

Work through the numbered steps in order, using the materials list and written proportions as your guide.

  1. Start the shuck

    Cover the hook with yellow thread and tie a short brown Zelon shuck over the bend, trimming it about one hook gap long.

  2. Build the underbody

    Tie brown 6/0 thread at the rear, then shape a narrow abdomen with the yellow thread. Switch the working thread to olive near the eye.

  3. Form the segmented abdomen

    Touch-dub a fine veil of brown possum onto the loose brown thread and spiral it forward in open turns over the yellow underbody.

  4. Dub the first thorax

    Wind a small amount of pale yellow rabbit fur at the front of the abdomen, leaving clear room for wing and head.

  5. Mount and support the wing

    Clean and stack a small bunch of caribou hair. Tie it on top with tips extending just beyond the bend; use a small thread dam and more yellow dubbing to raise the wing.

  6. Finish

    Whip finish just behind the eye and trim the upright hair butts on an angle. Keep the shuck and wing clear of the hook eye.

Beyond the bench

On the water.

Fish it in the surface film during sulphur emergence, with a slack enough drift to keep the low body from skating.

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Recipe references

Original written instructions adapted from the sources below. Materials and methods may vary between versions.

For the same fly box.

Beadhead EmergerEmerger · #16Caddis EmergerEmerger · #14Chuck’s EmergerEmerger · #18–20