AIR HEAD
AIR HEAD
Book: Trout Flies- Proven Patterns
Gary LaFontaine
Scuba divers used in the stream by Gary to see fish reactions to the fly said that it was
the strongest attractor they had ever seen. The translucent, closed-cell foam used for the
wings was the reason. It diffuses light and subtly mimics bright parts of an insect. It
doesn’t look like any insect on a stream but the foam wings may resemble large
stoneflies beating their wings on the surface. When trout aren’t actively feeding on the
surface Gary would try the Air Head. If it did not get a rise then fish would not hit any dry
fly. It can be fished dead drift or used as an indicator with a nymph underneath or as a
streamer. It never sinks. Unfortunately, Gary died of Lou Gehrig’s Disease in January
2002 at age 56.
Materials:
• Hook: 8-16 wide gap, ring eye, dry fly TMC 101
• Body: mink fur (or other dubbing ) dubbed rough
• Wing: elk or deer hair
• Tail: optional- Gary did not use one- I use a 1” piece of golden pheasant neck fiber
• Head: translucent, closed-cell foam – Rainey’s Evasote white foam-cut thin with
exacto knife
Directions:
1. Tie in the golden pheasant fibers at the hook bend
2. Dub the rear portion of the body 1/3 up the hook shank
3. Tie in the elk/deer hair wing(tips extending to the bend of the hook), clip stubs
4. Dub over the thread or use some peacock herl over the next 1/3 of the hook. Leave
front 1/3 of the hook bare
5. Tie in 5 or 6 strips of foam under the hook extended forward over the eye of the hook;
wrap the thread forward to the eye, binding down the strips
6. Wrap the thread backwards to the original tie-in; (use some head cement here to help
secure the foam) pull the strips back and tie them down, forming the foam head; trim
the strips short on the sides and longer over the elk/deer hair
