All content © Robert Williamson

All content © Robert Williamson

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

SILHOUETTE SERIES AIRBUGS

Brown stoneflies
Two brown and one gray stonefly adults
Top and bottom view Silhouette Airbugs
Brown trout


The Silhouette Series of Airbugs is a "new" way to use  O2 Body Material. I have been tying large dry flies with O2 for the past 18 years. The tying technique creates two air-filled chambers that form the body of the fly and creates a nice silhouette. The air-filled body along with the elk hair wing and foam head makes for a great floating fly.

If you want to imitate some of the large stonefly adults such as the salmonfly and golden stone this is a great material and tying style to do it. By using orange, brown, black, and gold colored O2 a tier can create some great looks to imitate the stoneflies.

This technique and material also lends itself to the creation of beautiful cicada, hopper, and beetle patterns. Hoppers are best tied in the tan and pale yellow color, cicada with black or orange, and beetles with black, green, or even purple. With a little crystal flash or similar material mixed in with the wing the cicada pattern looks and works great. The body, foam head, and leg colors can be changed to create several fun patterns.

Last year I used the hopper for most of my late summer and fall dry fly fishing and had a blast.