Ben's Foam Face Minnow

Ben - May 2026

Let's be honest: I didn't invent the gurgler, but this specific variation became a permanent resident in my fly box thanks to a healthy dose of stubbornness and a failed fishing trip.

I was out hunting for Tiger Muskie, getting completely skunked, while cutthroat trout were rising all around the boat. I was ready to tie on a delicate size 16 dry fly, but Tyler Hanks looked at me, shook his head, and insisted I throw a massive 2/0 gurgler instead. I told him he was crazy. He wasn't having it. To shut him up, I tied it on, casted, and—boom—fish on.

Those trout weren't matching a hatch; they were fighting a territory war against what looked like a marauding baitfish stealing their bugs. I hit the vise immediately to perfect a pattern that imitates a minnow coming to the surface to feed.

The Foam Face Minnow is incredibly versatile. You can chuck it on a floating line, but one of my absolute favorite tactics is to fish it on a sink-tip line. When you strip hard, the sinking line buries the fly underwater. But the second you pause? That foam head shoots the fly right back toward the surface like a panicked baitfish. It drives predators absolutely insane.

To date, this fly has brought tons of trout and bass to the boat (still working on that muskie!). Tie a few up, throw them where they don't belong, and hold on tight!