This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the LaFontaine Deep Sparkle Pupa.
Here is a fly I tied many years ago.
I first learned of the Deep Sparkle Pupa when I purchased Gary LaFontaine’s book entitled Caddisflies in the 1980s. It took him 10 years to write the book because of the research he performed.
When Gary started the book, not many people were talking about caddisflies. It was all mayflies. He wrote the book with the fly fisher in mind…as a problem-solver. What caddis fly stages (larval, pupal, and adult) are available to the fish? How can the fly tyer create fly patterns to imitate these stages and catch fish?
Gary spent many hours underwater watching trout eat real insects. Then he went to the fly tying vise and created patterns to imitate what he saw in the water. And the Deep Sparkle Pupa was one of his creations.
He found that DuPont’s Antron yarn produced the desired sparkling effect he observed in the real insect as it began it’s journey to the surface. Antron is translucent and reflects light, two important properties to emulate the real insect and trigger strikes from fish.
So after pulling out Gary’s book and refreshing a little of my knowledge, I better give this fly pattern another go!
Enjoy…go fish!
