Some cut and past infom from Fly Fisherman forum about this fly. Looks like he is using wood in the head??
60.Charlie’s Airhead, Bisharat’s…3 colors in 2, 1/0, 3/0
Near Sacramento, in Charlie’s backyard is a 1,300 sq ft wood shop, where, for years, Charlie crafted world famous traditional long bows. So when the
bug hit him, especially a maniacal quest for HUGE bass, it seems fitting that Charlie turned to using wood. Thus began his quest for big flies that weighed little and could be cast relatively easily. And Charlie began crafting woodplugs to shape his flies. He first coated them with silicone (ala Popovics), then tried Softex (ala Ryzanich), but discovered that ‘ol Shoe Goop yielded the
perfect and quickest finished flies. After several years of tinkering…and fishing, the Airhead was born.
Essentially, it’s a body of Slinky Fibre, “gooped” over a carefully shaped wooden plug.
The result is a relatively light fly that can still represent large baitfish bodies…it
is practically indestructible (try stepping on one), can be cast fairly easily, is tied on a big-gaped Gamakatsu Siwash hook. The final result however, and
what truly makes this fly is…THE ACTION. While this fly will swim and track on
long pulls, it is best fished with short, aggressive but intermittent 6-12” strips,
with definite pauses. On the slack, it will dart and veer either right or left.
On floating or intermediate lines the Airhead can be fished very
shallow. It will ride topwater until the airpocket is pushed from the hollow head. Then it will dart and veer (short strips and pauses)
erratically, only a few inches under the surface.
· This slow sink rate makes it a deadly fly for shallow sight fishing…
· When fished on heavier sinking lines, deeper in the water column, the Airhead performs just as crazily, neutrally buoyant, veering (short strips and pauses) left, left, right, left.
