Gary LaFontaine

Gary LaFontaine; author, angler and entomologist published in excess of 100 articles on fly fishing and fly tying in more than a dozen different regional and national publications. He authored five books, best known of which was Caddisflies and coauthored many others.  A pioneer in using SCUBA gear for underwater research, he spent many bone-chilling hours observing trout and their insect prey species in their environment.  He observed light patterns which reflected from the organisms and discovered that a trilobal polymer filament would, when blended with other materials in small amounts, reproduce these light patterns.  Thus, his “Deep Sparkle” and “Sparkle” patterns came in to general usage with stunning results.  When he died at age 56, Gary was working on another book on the incredibly complex group of Blue Wing Olives.  Steve Qualline, of Bob Marriott’s Fly Fishing Store, has probably said it best: “Gary’s greatest legacy was the way he touched, and taught countless lovers of fly fishing!”