Wilkinson Sunray step by step

[Ard]

Or at least my interpretation of the pattern, it's working for me in a big way and I was ask to show how to do it on a tube.

Due to image number limitations on threads I posted the step by step here > Wilkinson Sunray

I don't claim to be any good at tying any more and mostly make fishing flies, this particular pattern has done more damage on multiple species here than any other I have experimented with. A normal day for me is to slide one on my leader, secure a hook and then fish it all day. My rational is that if they don't take it they probably won't take something else. I spend the entire time with it in the water rather than tying knots & changing flies.

If I were to go to new York's Salmon River steelhead fishing next week this is exactly what I would use. I'm just that stubborn.

Comments welcome here or on the blog thread.

 

[Unknownflyman]

I dig it, I`ll give them a shot.

 

[Ard]

Between that fly and the very similar Dee Monkey they are about all I use. These fish seem willing to grab something that looks somewhat like a leech. Just a bit of color and a bit of flash but not bright and flashy flies. That is what everyone else is throwing at them here, big intruders and the like.

The weight on the tube isn't much, approximately 6.4 grains but they sink the fly. Combined with a 3 foot mini head of Z-15 spliced in the middle of my leader they reach the strike zone without you losing flies to the bottom. I have a very stubborn view on weight and sink tips. I absolutely hate losing my flies and I do mean I hate it! All this talk about "dredging the bottom" and then the same guys talk about "finding a Player" when talking steelhead........

All that leaves me somewhat confused. When you dredge the bottom you often get snagged and in my opinion a "player" ought to be willing to rise a bit to a fly if they are in fact in the mood. Therefore I stick to my stubborn ways and I lose zero flies while still catching fish

 

[Unknownflyman]

Intruders are a high river fly here, too much almost for normal flows unless a guy scales them way back and down, and now its not really an intruder anymore, Sculpin heads are about the same, so getting that right balance for the flow I think you are describing is key. Probably why I fish tubes so much as well, my steelhead rivers are not really deep, waist deep or less, and really deep in the corners.

I think getting depth right is first hard to do even with sink tips, its easy to be too heavy to get down and then because the flow is slower at the bottom, a guy gets hung up or is below the fish, fish look up.

I also think that its the difference between a oen fish day and a three fish day.

 

[Ard]

I'm all about that depth control thing you know that

 

[eastfly66]

I'll be making some of these up for the SR coming up in a couple weeks, just ordered up the Artic fox I need. It does look like a great fit for up there too.
thanks Ard , you the Man !!!

 

[Ard]

Hi Paul,

All the flies I fall for seem to be a PITA to tie and source materials for but that's just the way things worked out. I first saw this pattern posted by Ryan Huston about 5 years ago on the SFF (Salmon Fishing Forums UK.) and as I looked at the fly I just knew it would catch fish.

I was on a serious kick of tying everything on Pro Micro Tubes using the bullet style drop weights and they looked really cool as you tied them up...…. There was a problem though. The way I was proportioning the flies and the length of extension tubing I was using created a fly that kinda hung in the water. Bu 'hung' I mean that all the materials streamed back and flowed - undulated - wiggled as you wanted but the extension tubing and hook sort of hung down at an odd angle of maybe 25 degrees from all those materials as they streamed backwards in the current. That resulted in the whole thing, (bait - fish food - leech, whatever they are mistaken for when grabbed) looking really weird. I don't know what goes through a fishes brain right before they commit to grabbing something but I thought it might be turning then off. So...…………

I went to the long tubes and short clipped extension like seen in the first photo. I added a wide hackle collar and changed the way I applied the toppings / wing and they swim upright and straight with no strange appearances. The hook remains almost unnoticeable when you stare at one hanging in the current right in front of you at close range.

Don't let the small hook fool ya, they stick em good.

 

[Ard]

They got better as I made more.



I use 8/0 thread and like enough tight wraps so I know everything will stay in place through multiple fish and of course casting. I also glue the bunches of hair as they are added and so it's hard to keep the bulk down. I think, hope they are balanced correctly so they swim just right.

I put the hook into the extension tube point down and straight down from the toppings. If the collaring is even and the hair wings / toppings are aligned right they swim with the cheeks just as they should be at the sides. The black hair is so fine as are the hackle fibers that they wriggle a bit similar to marabou and that's just right.

I would hope that the number I just tied along with the 8 or more that are already in my box would indicate the level of confidence I have in this look for the fishes

 

[mcnerney]

Ard

That is one sweet looking pattern, thanks for sharing. I'll have to order some of those materials you have listed before I can tie up a few.

 

[Ard]

You may need 'live phone support' while tying Larry

Even after 6 years of making this style fly I have my struggles with placement and proportions of materials in order to come out with something that works right.

If I were coming to fish there with you tomorrow I'd have that pattern with me and would use it wherever we fished. I have that much confidence or belief whichever it is that it will work anywhere and look good while doing it.

 

[ia_trouter]

I noticed you tied that with 8/0 Ard. Somebody in Iowa needs to work on his thread tension skills as I would have never dreamed of tying a fairly large streamer with anything lighter than 6/0.

 

[Ard]

I noticed you tied that with 8/0 Ard. Somebody in Iowa needs to work on his thread tension skills as I would have never dreamed of tying a fairly large streamer with anything lighter than 6/0.

The thicker the thread the less you can use. I learned that a long time ago when I was making the classic Atlantic salmon flies. There was no way you could put that all on a hook with Mono Cord

The tension thing is one of those muscle memory things we hear talked about. You just know how hard you can pull, it's been years since I snapped thread due to pulling too hard but I did cut my bobbin off twice tying those six flies:ranting3: Did it once with a razor while trimming the stems on the jungle cock cheeks and once with scissors while cleaning up the head area on another!

Both times right at the finish line and you need to have a reaction plan in place when that happens or the whole of your past 40 minutes work is going to come undone. Keep hackle pliers close - find the tag end of thread quick and get it clamped and tension on it. Then look in the waste basket under the vise for the bobbin. My waste was so full of stuff that it must have taken 30 seconds to find the thread bobbin.

 

[ia_trouter]

I have muscle memory down. I remember that I break 8/0 everytime I use it. I should pick up a spool of 8/0 something known to have a little more tensile strength. My eye is finally discerning enough to look at a fly and see it is limiting to use 6/0 on many of my ties that I currently use it on.

 

[ak4570]

Hi, Ard; long time, no talk-too! I hope all is well with you and the lovely Mat-Su Valley.

I know I am resurrecting an older thread, however, I tried to follow the link to your step-by-step and found that it now goes “other where”… Any chance you could point an interested tier to the original?

Thank you, Sir, and best regards,
John

 

[Ard]

Hi John,

Try this: Wilkinson Sunray I should replace the images with new and slim down the fly but I can't promise that I'll get to it. I've been doing well with some very small & sparse variants of that pattern for the past couple years.

 

[ak4570]

Thanks, Ard; that’s perfect.

Question: have you ever tied this pattern on a standard hook?

It's a beauty of a pattern and I’m considering tying it on some of the hundreds of 5 - 9xl streamer hooks I have left over from my Alaska days… maybe with a slim, short chenille body to mirror the tube on which you are tying.

Thoughts?

 

[Ard]

Yes but on #12 & 14 Doubles

 

[ak4570]

Excellent, I’ll give it a go and report back… fair or foul!

Best regards,
John

 

[Ard]

Think sparse on the little hooks

I don't have any of the tri color type on images but I have these;

Those are rainbow / steelhead trout catchers too and always a salmon or 2 by accident with them. Those are a #12 I think.

 

[ak4570]

Trout are going to be the no. 1 target for anything I put together... might have to take a couple for a swim on the Bighole next week if I can chase down the necessary materials by then.

Thanks again, Ard.

Best regards,
John