Fly of the Month Bob Ireton brings together his experience in fly fishing, aquatic entomology, and knowledge of fly tying techniques and materials, to design and tie durable and effective flies.

   Volume 3,  Issue 7                                                                     July  2002

 BLACK ANT

Fly and Text by Bob Ireton
Photography by Bob Kimsey and Bob Ireton

Most folks don't care much for ants. They crawl around your kitchen inside, and get into your picnic food outside. Some can even bite the dickens out of you! Fish, on the other hand, really like these pesky little terrestrials! On a warm day when they are active around pond and stream, and with a little wind to blow them off whatever they are crawling on, they fall into the water where the fish eagerly await them!

Ants can be black, brown, or cinnamon, and range in size 18-22, up to big black ants in size 12-14. When they are in the water, the prominent feature as viewed from below, is the large abdomen, slightly smaller head, and the legs on the thorax in between. I checked a real ant alongside this pattern in my test tank, and the impression of both is very similar. These patterns take up little space in your fly box, and can provide good fishing when the conditions are right.

MATERIALS

Hook - Size 12-20 TMC 100, Musted 94840, Dai-Riki 305, Daiichi 1100, Orvis 1523 

Thread - Black 6/0 for larger sizes 8/0 for smaller sizes

Body - Black Superfine Dubbing

Legs - Black Dry Fly Hackle

 

TYING STEPS

click on picture for larger view

1 - Secure hook properly in vice, and pinch down barb, if desired. Cover the hook shank with close wraps from one hook eye space behind the eye of the hook rearward, stopping above the barb. Tie a half hitch.
2 - Dub the abdomen. See picture for proportions.
3 - Tie in the hackle with the shiny side towards the eye of the hook.
4 - Now make several wraps of the hackle, and tie off. Trim the excess feather, and tie a half hitch. This represents the legs on the thorax.
5 - Now dub the head in front of the hackle. Tie a half hitch, and a whip finish. Add a small amount of head cement to the thread only of the head.
6 - Completed size 12 and size 20 for comparison.

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The Buckeye United Fly Fishers, Inc is a non-profit corporation organized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, incorporated in the State of Ohio for the preservation, conservation and wise use of our fishing waters and game fish; and to assist in the protection and improvement of our natural resources