Ant

Simple but deadly terrestrial. Trout key on ants that fall or blow onto the water.

Printed on the 10 of clubs

Ant falls are the closest thing in fly fishing to a lottery win. Winged ants swarm for mating flights on specific warm, still afternoons, usually in late summer, and when the swarm drifts over water thousands of them land and cannot get off. Every trout in the river feeds, often recklessly, and they will refuse anything that is not an ant.

The imitation is almost comically simple: two distinct lumps separated by a pinched waist, and a flat wing lying over the back. That waist is the single most important feature. It is the silhouette a trout uses to identify an ant, and a fly without a clear pinch between the segments gets refused during a serious fall.

Ants are also worth fishing when nothing is happening at all. Wingless ants fall into streams all summer, and a small black ant fished dead drift under overhanging trees is one of the more reliable ways to move a fish on a slow, hot afternoon.

What does an Ant imitate?

Winged ants during a mating flight.

How do you fish an Ant?

Dead drift on fine tippet. The fly rides flush and low, so track it by the leader or fish it as a dropper behind a visible dry. Takes are quiet sips.

When should you fish an Ant?

Late summer and early autumn on warm, humid, windless afternoons — the classic conditions for a mating flight. Wingless versions work all summer.

What are the quick tips for fishing it?

• If you see fish feeding steadily on nothing visible in August, suspect ants.
• Keep the waist pinched and distinct. It is the trigger.
• Carry black and cinnamon in #16 and #18.

How is an Ant tied?

• Hook: standard dry fly, #14-#20
• Thread: black 8/0
• Body: two black dubbing or foam segments with a pinched waist
• Wing: white poly yarn or hackle tips, tied flat over the back
• Hackle: black, sparse, at the waist

Dressings vary by tier and region. Treat this as the common recipe, not the only one.