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Baron

Ants, gotta love'em

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One of the most common flies that I now use as droppers are ants. Recently I bought some ants at a fly shop in Utah and found out that they were sinkers not floaters (photo on right) and of course I began right then and there to use them as droppers off hoppers. They are pretty effective. Since then I've wondered if they couldn't be used in a floating form. I've noticed some people tie ant flies with a white parachute in the middle. Does the presence of a parachute indicate that they were intended to be floating flies? I have tied simple blackflies without regard to whether or not they do or do not float assuming that either way they would be affective for bluegills. But when it gets really weedy in the summertime and I want to stay out of trouble it would be nice to have an ant fly that floated dependably. Hence my question about the parachute. I know that I could resort to foam and that's OK in a perfect world but I seem to get more hits on a natural looking ant fly than I do on it's foamy big brother. Currently I only have black thread but bu rnt red or brown works just as well if not better in sunlight. What are your thoughts?

Unknown.jpeg

honey_ant.jpg

images-1.jpeg

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BTW, these are not my ties but are pilfered images and are examples to show examples of what I was talking about. Don't mean to mis-lead.

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I use white or colored wings so I CAN SEE the fly on the water, most ants don't last long on the water surface (sink & drown) good pattern to fish wet also.

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Looks to me like the second one is a flying ant imitation which can also be an aquatic wasp. First one might be a flying ant too. The third is a "normal" ant, a terrestrial. Aquatic wasps are usually referred to as flying ants as they are very similar. 

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Here are the two sides of my ant/beetle box with both floaters and sinking patterns. I fish sinking beetles as well as ants.

 

34883027144_0a1dd4cdd8_o.jpg

P1000650

 

 

35593321121_084966148d_o.jpg

 

This is my version of the Ed Sutryn's McMurray Ant

35684736126_46fbcbee06_o.jpg

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4 minutes ago, SilverCreek said:

 

Here are the two sides of my ant/beetle box with both floaters and sinking patterns. I fish sinking beetles as well as ants.

 

34883027144_0a1dd4cdd8_o.jpg

P1000650

 

 

35593321121_084966148d_o.jpg

 

This is my version of the Ed Sutrynn's McMurray Ant

http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2011/01/05/mcmurray-ant-by-charlie-dickson/

35684736126_46fbcbee06_o.jpg

A few years ago i bought some balsa and made my own McMurray Ants. A lot of unnecessary work, but what the hell.

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13 minutes ago, SilverCreek said:

 

Here are the two sides of my ant/beetle box with both floaters and sinking patterns. I fish sinking beetles as well as ants.

 

34883027144_0a1dd4cdd8_o.jpgP1000650

 

 

35593321121_084966148d_o.jpg

 

This is my version of the Ed Sutryn's McMurray Ant

 

Goes without saying that I'm certainly impress. very nice and comprehensive. I noticed you don't tie all of them with legs. Could you give an example where legs or no legs would be used?

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Seeing is important and is why I bought red last summer. The first photo looks kind of universal......perhaps with a more neutral buoyancy.

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59 minutes ago, Baron said:

Goes without saying that I'm certainly impress. very nice and comprehensive. I noticed you don't tie all of them with legs. Could you give an example where legs or no legs would be used?

They all have "legs". The sunken ones have crystal flash and the dry ants have hackle.

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So in this case hackle become legs and I thought the were called tutu's like my grandkids were. Well they're mighty fine looking. I'm hoping to learn both soon. I've looked at so many styles and I guess I just need to lick one.

I really appreciate you sharing these images.

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My attempts:  A couple of thread ants ...

Black ant.JPG

Carpenter ant.JPG

And a floating ant made with "hole punch" dots, trimmed a little to reduce the total size.

Chell's floating ant 114.jpg

They all have produced fish, but I don't fish them very often.

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Very clever considering how clever it is, lol. I just tied a sculpin using a button for a head. I like the black fiber above.

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One of my favorite Ant patterns is the Bead Butt Ant using a small glass bead for the abdomen.  Small beads in translucent red, brown, copper or black make for a realistic ant abdomen.  Tied with quality dry fly hackle and 1 mm foam for the head, these float well enough but also do a great job when they sink.  Size 18 Bead Butt Ant below.

BZN11055.thumb.JPG.cd020771ec0835b2ae84ff5d0757d758.JPG

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