That fly looks a lot like a Klinkhammer. And Klinks float very well…relatively easy to tie once you get used to them.
HOLY COW GIG - nice list of research resources.
do you regularily have access to these journals or are you associated with a U somewhere?
like a Klnk, it floats very well, but fishes just fine wet. I put the smallest amount of floatant possible on every dry that I fish.
Ti
I think it’s a deformed brown.
It reminded me that I caught a 12" rainbow that was normal in every way, except it had a very pronounced banana shape…like a ( rotated 90 degrees clockwise, but with an even sharper arc.