Ants or Beetles

[6xAdams(Jones)]

I recall a video of Tom Finkbiner telling a story about how he didn't start catching big trout from Slate Run until he started using big ants.

 

[Bamboozle]

I'm addicted to foam bodied ants & beetles because they are simple to tie and float great without using floatant. Unfortunately, the best foam I ever used was the stuff Bill Skilton used to make but he told me he is done with that part of his business.

I used to tie fur ants, but now I just use a short length of black cylindrical foam lashed to a hook with a few turns of hackle for legs. My beetles are just coarse dubbing put in a dubbing loop for a body & legs and foam pulled over the top.

Because I never experienced pattern selectivity from trout when I plop a beetle or ant over a hungry fish or suspected lie, I don't bother tying ANY of my terrestrials in more than one size. I also never add bright colored posts or other "sighters," or bother with added legs so I can crank out a dozen beetles or ants in a few minutes.

Even though I am in Les' camp when it comes to plopping beetles any time of the year I get the urge, in the summer when I often spend an entire day fishing nothing but, I always fish them on a light tippet. For me that means 7X or 8X.

First off, I always accelerate then check my forward delivery cast to accentuate the "plop." I have found that my beetles "plop" better on 7X than 6X or 5X. In addition, MANY times a fish that wouldn't take my beetle or ant on 7X was fooled when I switched to 8X. I can't tell you how many times this made the difference for me.

 

[jifigz]

First off, I always accelerate then check my forward delivery cast to accentuate the "plop." I have found that my beetles "plop" better on 7X than 6X or 5X. In addition, MANY times a fish that wouldn't take my beetle or ant on 7X was fooled when I switched to 8X. I can't tell you how many times this made the difference for me.

Jeesh. Thanks Bam. Here I was trying to be a minimalist, and now you are making me want to start carrying 7x and 8x. The smallest I carry is usually 6x. I guess I can do 7x, but 8x? I don't know...

 

[rustbeltwilds]

Big foam beetle

 

[Tull66]

I had a 10 year old teach me a valuable lesson around 45 years ago between the Boiling Springs lake and the Yellow breeches, whatever that run is called. He was slapping ants HARD on the water and outfished my companion and me badly. That was the day I switched to McMurray Ants and stopped using all other terrestrials.

 

[jifigz]

I had a 10 year old teach me a valuable lesson around 45 years ago between the Boiling Springs lake and the Yellow breeches, whatever that run is called. He was slapping ants HARD on the water and outfished my companion and me badly. That was the day I switched to McMurray Ants and stopped using all other terrestrials.

I think people call that run "the run."

 

[goose54cdd]

I fish beetles early and then ants the rest of the day.

 

[redietz]

Ants, by far.

 

[discomidge]

Ants here too. I’m finally getting around to messing with sone euro ants like this. 2 beads, uv resin, hackle, done

 

[Dave_W]

Team beetle.

 

[laszlo]

Dry dropper: foam beetle and resin ant

 

[laszlo]

I think people call that run "the run."

That "run" no longer exists

 

[jifigz]

That "run" no longer exists

The run as people knew it no longer exists, but there is still water between the Breeches and Children lake that flows....

I know people say it's been ruined and changed.

Imagine the cold water influence on the Breeches if Children's Lake wasn't there

 

[joebamboo]

That "run" no longer exists

Neither does the catch & release all the way down to Allenberry!

 

[LetortAngler]

Ants here too. I’m finally getting around to messing with sone euro ants like this. 2 beads, uv resin, hackle, done
View attachment 1641236599

Very cool tie

 

[Prospector]

I enjoy fishing both ants and beetles. That being said an ant will outfish a beetle 9 times out of 10. Here’s a flying ant pattern that I shared on the fly tying forum a couple of weeks back.

View attachment 1641236575

You have motivated me to tie a half dozen of these!! Thanks.

 

[Prospector]

Back in the 70s-90s, the Kettle Creek FFO had a bevy of large browns and our group fished a lot of beetles, some were very large beetles (1.5”). Plopping one under a tree was deadly. I have never caught a trout on an ant but I have rarely fished them.

 

[wildtrout2]

I have never caught a trout on an ant but I have rarely fished them.

I had only fished an ant pattern once before, without results. I have about ten in a few patterns, just never really put the time in fishing them. On Thursday, I put on a parachute ant (12) after fishing for two+ hours with only two strikes on my parachute Adams. Caught a small wild brown on the first cast. Then, in the next hour I caught seven more! It was like a light switch went off. I will be fishing them more frequently.

 

[dryflyguy]

Most terrestrial patterns I have seen tied by others, tend to be ants in smaller sizes, and beetles in larger sizes.
Causing me to wonder if that might explain the majority here favoring ants

I tie my beetles all the way down to #20
And at times have to go that small for them to work.

Many times when I find fish midging, I can take them on a #20 beetle.
Instead of fiddling around with teeny midge patterns

 

[Dave_W]

Most terrestrial patterns I have seen tied by others, tend to be ants in smaller sizes, and beetles in larger sizes.
Causing me to wonder if that might explain the majority here favoring ants

I tie my beetles all the way down to #20
And at times have to go that small for them to work.

Many times when I find fish midging, I can take them on a #20 beetle.
Instead of fiddling around with teeny midge patterns

Agree.
I'll second those on this thread endorsing wet ants - they're deadly and I'll often drop one under a beetle or as a point fly on a stick nymphing rig. If you haven't tried this, you should. Trout eat wet ants year round.

However, I'm still inclined to prefer beetles and, like Bill, find that many anglers prefer ants because of their smaller sizes, while I keep my beetles small with a body size typically under a quarter inch. Switching to smaller beetles can make a difference. Moreover, I think many of the beetle-like bugs on our streams in central PA are on the small size - think of some of the bark beetles in the trees along Spring Creek.
(Crickets and hoppers in PA are also smaller than typical patterns as well - but this is a topic for another thread.)

Finally, for those of us who have been fly fishing in PA since the 70s, we remember the Japanese beetle outbreaks when these bugs seemed to be everywhere. In my experience, they're much less common along streams today. Trout really like Japanese beetles and their relatively large size got many of us using bigger patterns back in the day. Fishing the JB "hatch" was a big thing in the 80s and some of us still have a lot of confidence in beetle patterns.