Ant/Termite Pattern required

[vb1971 0]

G'day Everyone

I am new to this forum and relatively new to fly tying. Being early in the seasonI have been having lots of success here in Australia on my local creek with terrestrials I have tied myself such as Red Tags and Geehi beetles. Also some luck with caddis emergers. While on the creek the other night I experienced massive numbers of winged ants or termites. Does anybody have a simple yet affective ant pattern they would like to share with me?

 

Cheers from OZ

VB1971

[FlaFly 0]

I have only made two (using hot glue for one and epoxy for the other) with black thorax and red abdomen. Haven't fished them yet. I hear just about any ant is fishable. I fish for panfish... don't know how they work for trout although someone posted a pic on here a while back of a big brown with an ant hooked in his mouth.

I suggest you go to the fly pattern database (top of this page) and search ant patterns. There are dozens of them. They tend to be made in one of several ways: dubbed body, with or without wings and/or hackle, or body made of epoxy, hot glue, or UV resin. Some people start out building a body of thread and covering it with epoxy or resin, and some put beads on the hook (red or black) and cover them with clear resin/epoxy. I like them all, and plan to eventually get around to tying all of them.

 

P.S. lots of folks are having trouble with the database. If you can't get in, let me know and I may have a trick you can try.

[FlaFly 0]

One more thing... a number of folks who have posted flies on the database don't really provide tying instructions... just the "ingredients". If you need a step by step, I suggest you google "ant fly pattern" and youtube. Regardless of which material you use, the steps are all pretty much the same.

[phg 0]

A basic foam ant would meet your needs. I'm looking for pattern instructions, but everyone seems to be bent on creating a better ant. I'll update this when I find what I'm looking for.

 

This UK site is close to what I use: http://www.flyfishing.co.uk/fly-tying-patterns-step-step/33884-foam-ant.html

 

This YouTube video is similar, but a bit tedious to watch:

[FlaFly 0]

You're right... I forgot about foam. I got an ant and beetle kit several years back... came with hooks, little black or brown foam cylinders 2mm or so by about 3/4 inch. Don't recall whether it had rubber leg material or anything else in it. Nowadays, I'd just make my own. There might be a foam ant or two in the database.

[pnptrapp 0]

https://www.flymasters.com/ShopDetail.asp?d=44&i=274

 

This store I've been to personally and the staff there is really great. It's also the only place I've been able to find the foam spider/ant bodies without having to buy a whole kit. They have them in different colors and sizes.

[Jaydub 0]

Skip Morris' Ant Carol works well. http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/092406fotw.php

[FlaFly 0]

The material I got in the kit was the stuff generally known as "Rainy's Foam".. It comes in tubular shape, in different colors and thicknesses. Some shops I've been into had little packages with about a foot of foam coiled up inside. Enough for maybe 15 or 20 ants.

[FlaFly 0]

I've got lots of neat ant patterns in my collection, but this one is a cool ant, posted in the DB by DLamy. Foam could be any color. He ties it either with hackle around the waist, or hackle and winds up front. And best of all, it's real simple to make.

 

Having said that, if you're going for trout, I suspect you need to try to match whatever is falling out of trees where you fish. Lots of terrestrial insects get blown or washed by rain off of overhanging limbs. That is what the local trout would be targeting.

[vb1971 0]

Thanks Everyone! Appreciate the valuable feedback

 

Kind Regards

[mikechell 0]

Look up the McMurray Ant.

[vb1971 0]

Hey FlaFly confirming I cant access the pattern database..... You assistance greatly appreciated

 

Cheers

VB1971

[FlaFly 0]

OK veebee

At the top of this page, there should be six pictures... some of them are of FTF Apparel etc, but usually most of them are photos and names of posted flies. If so, then click on one of the flies and it will take you to the database page for that fly. At the top of that page you will find options, including search, browse by member, etc.

If you want all the flies for crappie, for example, you can search by tag, and you'll get a page full of possible tags. go to crappie and click and you'll get at least one page, possible several pages, of crappie flies. You can also use the search page, and select specific kinds of flies, materials, etc.

 

If the six pix at the top of this page send you to Hatches Magazine articles or elsewhere, you will need to click on some of the forums, till one of them has flies at the top.

 

As far as I am aware, this is the only way remaining to get into the DB for those of us that are having this problem. Let me know if it works or doesn't.

[vb1971 0]

Thanks FlaFly

 

it worked! A great resource

 

Cheers

[FlaFly 0]

Glad to hear it. Just in case you get a bunch of pictures above that don't go to the DB, and you don't want to wait for the display to change, you might consider saving this link: http://www.flytyingforum.com/pattern2976.html

to your favorites. It works the same way.