Productive Fying Ant Patterns

[Bruce Norikane 0]

A.K. Best ties (or used to tie) a flying ant that used a strip of plastic from a Ziploc-type sandwich bag (I believe it was actually the Glad brand) for a wing. This particular sandwich bag had a strip just below the closure that was embossed with a crosshatched pattern. He said the embossed crosshatching reflected a ton of light and you could see it from quite a ways away, but it was also translucent like the wings of the naturals, not to mention being super-durable and inexpensive....

 

Funny, I've saved a few dozen cross-hatch strips cut from Glad Sandwich Bags. I saved them to tie A.K's Midge Emerger pattern which uses the same down wing. I never heard of his flying ant, but it makes sense for any transparent down wing. Glad changed their bags awhile ago, so they didn't have the crosshatch pattern.

 

It's odd because A.K. never liked synthetics. He didn't say anything bad about synthetics, but he strongly preferred natural materials for his patterns. Even when he moved away from calf tail for parachute posts, he replaced it with turkey flat fibers. AFAIK, all his other wings are feathers or hair wings.

[Dave G. 0]

I never liked synthetics either, till I used antron in my midge emergers some years ago ( only place i used it for a long time). And then in some flies, in place of calf. It's definitely my ant winging material though.

[Losthwy 0]

A.K. Best ties (or used to tie) a flying ant that used a strip of plastic from a Ziploc-type sandwich bag (I believe it was actually the Glad brand) for a wing. This particular sandwich bag had a strip just below the closure that was embossed with a crosshatched pattern. He said the embossed crosshatching reflected a ton of light and you could see it from quite a ways away, but it was also translucent like the wings of the naturals, not to mention being super-durable and inexpensive. The rest of the fly was your standard ant tie--big ball of dubbing for the abdomen, a thin thorax of just tying thread, over which he wrapped a few turns of dry fly hackle, then the strip of plastic, trimmed to shape and tied in flat so that the hackle propped it up at about a 45 deg. angle to the hook shank, then a very small ball of dubbing for the head.

 

I tried to find a picture online, but had no luck. It's on this video: http://www.frontrangeanglers.com/shop/tying-terrestrials-caddis-and-midges-by-a-k-best/

 

I've fished this pattern in late summer on the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers in Michigan when the flying ants were on, and I can report that it floats well, is easy to see and catches fish.

 

 

I didn't see a video at the link.

[Bruce Norikane 0]

I never liked synthetics either, till I used antron in my midge emergers some years ago ( only place i used it for a long time). And then in some flies, in place of calf. It's definitely my ant winging material though.

 

I'm less natural. All my posts are synthetic. Many of my wings as well. Dubbing is 50/50. Tails 50/50.

[mikechell 0]

95% of mine are synthetic. Fish don't care and, in my experience, flies tied with synthetics last longer than those with natural.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

 

A.K. Best ties (or used to tie) a flying ant that used a strip of plastic from a Ziploc-type sandwich bag (I believe it was actually the Glad brand) for a wing. This particular sandwich bag had a strip just below the closure that was embossed with a crosshatched pattern. He said the embossed crosshatching reflected a ton of light and you could see it from quite a ways away, but it was also translucent like the wings of the naturals, not to mention being super-durable and inexpensive. The rest of the fly was your standard ant tie--big ball of dubbing for the abdomen, a thin thorax of just tying thread, over which he wrapped a few turns of dry fly hackle, then the strip of plastic, trimmed to shape and tied in flat so that the hackle propped it up at about a 45 deg. angle to the hook shank, then a very small ball of dubbing for the head.

 

I tried to find a picture online, but had no luck. It's on this video: http://www.frontrangeanglers.com/shop/tying-terrestrials-caddis-and-midges-by-a-k-best/

 

I've fished this pattern in late summer on the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers in Michigan when the flying ants were on, and I can report that it floats well, is easy to see and catches fish.

 

 

I didn't see a video at the link.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that there was a video you could watch at the link--it should take you to an online retailer's page where they sell the A.K. Best's DVD entitled "Tying Terrestrials, Caddis and Midges". I just clicked on the link and it took me right there.

[NohackleHS 0]

(Please refer to the attached photo)

Hook: Tiemco 100 or 101, size 12

Body: Black synthetic dubbing

Wing: Brown straight antron (zelon)

Hackle: Black dry fly

 

I created the fly over 30 years ago. I had just gotten back from a trip to Manzanita lake in Northern California. When I opened my trunk, there were about 30 black ants lining the border of my trunk lid. A few days later I took one of the ants and tried to create a fly to imitate it. The fly is quite large, has three distinct sections (a head and two body sections) and a long dark brown wing (the natural had a dark brown wing with black veins) that extends well beyond the end of the body. Notes:

- The locals called these ants carpenter ants. They hatched at Manzanita for only about 3 weeks (early May to late May) but when the fish were dialed into them, they relished them.

- The natural is so large that the rise form are not subtle. Rather they are splashy and if you are close by, you can actually hear a "smacking" sound.

- The fly was a great success not only at Manzanita but at other lakes and streams that had large ants in the area. The large size of the fly seemed to attract the larger fish.

[Jaydub 0]

This is my favorite small flying ant pattern. I sometimes tie it with a deer hair wing. Also a small piece of brightly colored yarn on top helps visibility.

 

 

[Losthwy 0]

Is that a CDC wing?

[Jaydub 0]

Yes, natural gray CDC.