Ants

[bam]

Looking for suggestions on an epoxy or one of those UV kits to tie some ants. I picked up a dozen hard bodied ants from Cabelas for a couple bucks last year and the trout preferred them over my dubbed/hackled ants.

Any other ant recipes welcome...

 

[ztroutman]

Harrison Steeves Transparant. Build thread for the abdomen and the thorax. Tie several. Then use 5 minute epoxy and build the epoxy over the thread. Allow to set, tie in hackle between the two epoxied segments for legs. I also have slipped colored glass beads (red and black) and epoxied over them. They do work, especially on a tandem rig.
http://flyanglersonline.com/features/nqento/148sinkingant.jpg

 

[ryguyfi]

cut a small piece of black foam... lash to hook with 2/3 on the rear, and 1/3 to the front. 2-3 wraps of black hackle optional. Simple. Easy. Catches Fish.

 

[jaybo41]

Interesting idea by using glass beads and then covering them with epoxy. Thanks for that suggestion.

Hatches Magazine has a good article on ants that's worth a read. I have been tying the foam bodied ants and using them with good success. Simple tie.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

When beads first became popular I started tying black ants using a fur hump for the rear, a turn of black hackle, and a small black bead for the front. Makes a great dropper under a dry. Unfortunately, it is getting hard to find actual black beads anymore.

 

[TLoomis]

Tied 3 like this tonight, and LOVED them. They came out GREAT, I was so pleased. I wish I woulda taken pictures of it.

I used dun hackle though cause thats all I have

 

[osprey]

Nativebrookie.................ants , my favorite trout fly , they love 'em , i don't know exactly why but they do , ryguyfi's suggestion of the foam is right on the mark , that is my favorite version , heck , when i first tied the foam version most fly fishers were using the McMurray ant , Harry Murray's balsa wood and mono version , that was a while ago. As for a hard , sinking version of the ant , try this one , it's also old , use the standard , glossy floss , sold in fly shops for floss bodies , build up your ant body and when you are done (before hackle) dip the entire fly into acetone or nail polish remover , set aside and let it dry and harden , after everything dries and hardens go back and add a few wraps of hackle. This hard , sinking version is old but good. HAVE FUN N GOOD LUCK.

 

[osprey]

Nativebrookie..............one more thing , the problem of only having dun hackle to work with can be solved somewhat with a few Sharpie felt tip markers , for starters a black one will get you black hackle for a nice black ant.

 

[BrookieBuster101]

I don't know if any of you guys saw this but in a recent fly fishing magazine (cant remember which i get so many) it shows gorilla glue ants. Its the same as the epoxy ants but gorilla glue expands and has tiny bubbles inside of it making it float better. Some guys mix black paint in with the glue but I just color it with a sharpie and it gives the same effect. My advice is to apply the glue sparsely though because it can expand too much, but then ya got yer self a beetle.

 

[TLoomis]

Yeah I should probably hit them with that. I was thinking more along the lines of a flying ant but I am not sure how many of them we have around here

 

[osprey]

Nativebrookie.............flying ants are everywhere in Pa and beleive me they get the trouts attention , try adding an off white or tan/beige peice of z-lon under the hackle , in other words put the wing on and then wrap over it , trout love this fly and it's easier to see the wing on the water than an all black version

 

[FlySwatter]

osprey,

Do you use this pattern Spring thru Fall or only during flying ant events?

 

[TLoomis]

So your saying tie in a piece of z-lon in between the foam bumps, then wrap hackle over it?

Any pictures?

 

[MKern]

I've caugth a lot of fish with ants that have wings (usually parapost tied back over the fly like osprey discribed).

Winged ants are attracted to shiny surfaces, like water. So they often dive-bomb it not realizing they can't swim.

However, I've caught a lot more fish off a similar looking pattern: ball of dubbing - wing and hackle - ball of dubbing.

It turns out that it looks like two midges mating. BTW, smaller the better; and way better than tradition midge patterns.

 

[beadhead2]

Video of gorilla fly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRp7I1Ll5Rs

 

[osprey]

flyswatter.......i use this year round , the wing helps you see the fly in certain situations and nativebrookie.......yep , that's exactly it , i have no pics but what you describe will get it done. The z-lon kinda lays along the top of the rear piece of foam. When this fly is fresh i'm not sure the trout even see the z-lon wing but i know i do and it helps in certain light situations.