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#1
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Ants
This past season I experienced several days of great fishing with ant
patterns. A day on Hebgen, when the lake was covered with calibaetis and there were a few falling ants ... the ants were the secret to wonderful success. And, my biggest fish of the season, a 23++ inch HFork Rainbow ate a #18 ant pattern. I've had occasional good ant fishing over the years, but this year it was special, maybe because of .....um .... ????. I've been trying to find more information on ants as they related to fly fishing ... especially flying ant swarms. I'm wondering if there are any reliable ant places and times that you guys know about. Any way to predict these swarms and the fabulous fishing they cause. Any literature that addresses ants in more than the 'guess and folklore' style of most fly fishing works? YOUR ant experiences? special patterns? tactics? times and places ( yeah, asking a lot:-) ? |
#2
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Ants
Larry L wrote:
... YOUR ant experiences? special patterns? tactics? times and places ( yeah, asking a lot:-) ? Just to provide a data point, I've never had much success with them, perhaps because I have little confidence in them and don't fish them very often. I'll almost always use a Griffith's Gnat instead of an ant. -- Ken Fortenberry |
#3
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Ants
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
... Larry L wrote: ... YOUR ant experiences? special patterns? tactics? times and places ( yeah, asking a lot:-) ? Just to provide a data point, I've never had much success with them, perhaps because I have little confidence in them and don't fish them very often. I'll almost always use a Griffith's Gnat instead of an ant. I suspect its like other patterns. You have some success, and you fish with it more. You fish with it more, and you inherently learn how to fish it more effectively. Bob La Londe www.YumaBassMan.com |
#4
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Ants
On Nov 5, 4:59*pm, "Larry L" wrote:
This past season I experienced several days of great fishing with ant patterns. * * A day on Hebgen, when the lake was covered with calibaetis and there were a few falling ants ... the ants were the secret to wonderful success. * * And, my biggest fish of the season, a 23++ inch HFork Rainbow ate a #18 ant pattern. * *I've had occasional good ant fishing over the years, but this year it was special, maybe because of .....um .... ????. I've been trying to find more information on ants as they related to fly fishing ... especially flying ant swarms. * *I'm wondering if there are any reliable ant places and times that you guys know about. * *Any way to predict these swarms and the fabulous fishing they cause. * *Any literature that addresses ants in more than the 'guess and folklore' style of most fly fishing works? YOUR ant experiences? * *special patterns? *tactics? times and places ( yeah, asking a lot:-) ? There is quite a lot of material on ants, and there are specific times, places, and occasions, for specific species. Unfortunately, that is fishing related, and I am not going to say anything about it. Not least, because the only major experience I have of America is the ignorance and stupidity displayed by several of them on this group. |
#5
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Ants
On Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:59:11 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote: This past season I experienced several days of great fishing with ant patterns. A day on Hebgen, when the lake was covered with calibaetis and there were a few falling ants ... the ants were the secret to wonderful success. And, my biggest fish of the season, a 23++ inch HFork Rainbow ate a #18 ant pattern. I've had occasional good ant fishing over the years, but this year it was special, maybe because of .....um .... ????. I've been trying to find more information on ants as they related to fly fishing ... especially flying ant swarms. I'm wondering if there are any reliable ant places and times that you guys know about. Any way to predict these swarms and the fabulous fishing they cause. Any literature that addresses ants in more than the 'guess and folklore' style of most fly fishing works? YOUR ant experiences? special patterns? tactics? times and places ( yeah, asking a lot:-) ? I've had very limited success with ants, winged or no. On only one day I managed to catch a couple of small bluegills on a #18 winged red ant. They've never struck when I tried a red w/o wings, nor a black, with or w/o wings. I no longer even try them. I'll go with a Griffith's Gnat first. LOTS of success on BGs with those. :-) |
#6
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Ants
"Bob La Londe" wrote .. I suspect its like other patterns. You have some success, and you fish with it more. You fish with it more, and you inherently learn how to fish it more effectively. NOT in my case .... I've always lacked confidence in ants, certainly as a searching pattern, mainly because they are so damn hard to see. The successes I've had were during flying ant falls and to VERY selective fish, NOT "fishing the water." The Hebgen example saw the lake covered with calibaetis and me doing terrible with rising rise all around, until I noticed the ants and changed flies ... the fish were clearly looking for the ants amoungst the far more numerous mayflies I posted this link before, but do so to point out the picture ( well down the page ) of the pumped contents of a good trout's throat ... even though there were several different and far more obvious food forms in the drift http://www.kimshew.com/flyfish/displ...php?log_id=345 Specific to ants, I'm looking for information on how better to predict the where and when of mating swarms as I'm now convinced that they provide one of fly fishing's best "hatches" .... if you can find one |
#7
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Ants
Ants work for me. I started using them after finding a fish's stomach full to bursting with them. (I've also found yellow jackets and other wasps.) Some fishermen speculate that the flavor of ants is irresistible to trout, and I've heard stories that fish have gorged themselves to death on big ant "hatches." I don't know about that, but I know that they like ants, and that ants are supposed to have a strong flavor of formic acid. I've never tasted them. The carpenter ant hatch on the San Juan is supposed to be pretty amazing. Has anyone out there fished it? Ants are hard to impossible for me to see, especially in poor light, so I like to use smallish black hi-vis foam beetle and maybe an ant dropper. -- Cut "to the chase" for my email address. |
#8
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Ants
On Nov 5, 7:31*pm, "Larry L" wrote:
"Bob La Londe" wrote . I suspect its like other patterns. *You have some success, and you fish with it more. *You fish with it more, and you inherently learn how to fish it more effectively. NOT in my case * .... I've always lacked confidence in ants, certainly as a searching pattern, mainly because they are so damn hard to see. * * *The successes I've had were during flying ant falls and to VERY selective fish, NOT "fishing the water." The Hebgen example saw the lake covered with calibaetis and me doing terrible with rising rise all around, until I noticed the ants and changed flies ... the fish were clearly looking for the ants amoungst the far more numerous mayflies I posted this link before, but do so to point out the picture ( well down the page ) of the pumped contents of a good trout's throat ... even though there were several different and far more obvious food forms in the drift http://www.kimshew.com/flyfish/displ...php?log_id=345 Specific to ants, I'm looking for information on how better to predict the where and when of mating swarms as I'm now convinced that they provide one of fly fishing's best "hatches" .... if you can find one Some points which may assist you. The princess ants and the males initially swarm near their nests, the mating flight takes place from this location. The princess ( winged females) ants, then proceed to another location, lose their wings, and become queens, forming another nest. There are many species of ants; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/ANTKEY/ http://www.earthlife.net/insects/ants.html The swarming periods for a specific species, ( often in warm weather, but not exclusively), are usually the same each year, dependant on conditions ( 8...10 day period), but in many areas, especially wood ants and similar, often fall into the water and are invariably taken avidly by the fish. Using appropriate artificials works much better in areas where they are common, but may also be successful as serendipitous terrestrial imitations. The SIZE of the ants is often quite critical. On some of the rivers I fish large red wood ants are common, http://www.centralpets.com/animals/i...s/ant4647.html and there are large nests in various places. An ant of appropriate size and colouring is invariably successful in the vicinity of such a nest, whereas other imitations rarely are. Floating ants, IN THE FILM, ( not with hackles holding them up) have always worked best for me, and for other people with whom I have discussed such matters. I use cork bodied ants a lot, painted with nail varnish in the appropriate colours and then varnished with clear varnish. Even large fish will often concentrate on the ants to the exclusion of all else, even in large multiple hatches. If there are ants in the area, then a smear of sugar water or honey water on various branches etc overhanging the stream and leading to the base of the tree, will often result in a large column of worker ants moving along beside the smear, fruit ans other similar materials also works. This will also result in a steady stream of ants falling into the stream, especially on windy days. This will usually attract the largest fish to those areas. This is of course independent of swarming times, and many ants of various species often fall from trees on to water in such a manner. Trees whose leaves exude sticky substances like maple, chestnut, and a few others are invariably swarming with ants. Whatever, there is a lot more, but that will doubtless get you started. As with many other things, a lot of research is needed to maximise results with the patterns you decide to use. |
#9
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Ants
On Nov 5, 8:04*pm, wrote:
On Nov 5, 7:31*pm, "Larry L" wrote: "Bob La Londe" wrote . I suspect its like other patterns. *You have some success, and you fish with it more. *You fish with it more, and you inherently learn how to fish it more effectively. NOT in my case * .... I've always lacked confidence in ants, certainly as a searching pattern, mainly because they are so damn hard to see. * * *The successes I've had were during flying ant falls and to VERY selective fish, NOT "fishing the water." The Hebgen example saw the lake covered with calibaetis and me doing terrible with rising rise all around, until I noticed the ants and changed flies ... the fish were clearly looking for the ants amoungst the far more numerous mayflies I posted this link before, but do so to point out the picture ( well down the page ) of the pumped contents of a good trout's throat ... even though there were several different and far more obvious food forms in the drift http://www.kimshew.com/flyfish/displ...php?log_id=345 Specific to ants, I'm looking for information on how better to predict the where and when of mating swarms as I'm now convinced that they provide one of fly fishing's best "hatches" .... if you can find one Some points which may assist you. *The princess ants and the males initially swarm near their nests, the mating flight takes place from this location. The princess ( winged females) ants, then proceed to another location, lose their wings, and become queens, forming another nest. There are many species of ants;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/ANTKEY/ http://www.earthlife.net/insects/ants.html The swarming periods for a specific species, ( often in warm weather, but not exclusively), are usually the same each year, dependant on conditions ( 8...10 day period), but in many areas, especially wood ants and similar, often fall into the water and are invariably taken avidly by the fish. Using appropriate artificials works much better in areas where they are common, but may also be successful as serendipitous terrestrial imitations. The SIZE of the ants is often quite critical. On some of the rivers I fish large red wood ants are common,http://www.centralpets.com/animals/i...s/ant4647.html and there are large nests in various places. An ant of appropriate size and colouring is invariably successful in the vicinity of such a nest, whereas other imitations rarely are. Floating ants, *IN THE FILM, ( not with hackles holding them up) have always worked best for me, and for other people with whom I have discussed such matters. I use cork bodied ants a lot, painted with nail varnish in the appropriate colours and then varnished with clear varnish. Even large fish will often concentrate on the ants to the exclusion of all else, even in large multiple hatches. If there are ants in the area, then a smear of sugar water or honey water on various branches etc overhanging the stream and leading to the base of the tree, will often result in a large column of worker ants moving along beside the smear, fruit ans other similar materials also works. *This will also result in a steady stream of ants falling into the stream, especially on windy days. *This will usually attract the largest fish to those areas. *This is of course independent of swarming times, and many ants of various species often fall from trees on to water in such a manner. Trees whose leaves exude sticky substances like maple, chestnut, and a few others are invariably swarming with ants. Whatever, there is a lot more, but that will doubtless get you started. As with many other things, a lot of research is needed to maximise results with the patterns you decide to use. Also, you will need a "sighting post" on ants in the film, as they may otherwise be difficult to see. My criteria, in order; Floatation, Size, colour, translucence ( view the natural AGAINST the light). I prefer cork, but other materials ( especially in smaller sizes) like varnished wool will work. Foam is also good if it is the right colour; http://www.virtualflybox.com/pattern...ap_id=9&id=607 http://www.danica.com/flytier/istanc...s_foam_ant.htm http://www.swedneckflyfishing.com/foamant.htm http://www.classicflytying.com/pattern5147.html http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/ant/ http://www.riverrunoutfitters.com/st...?productid=528 https://littleriveroutfitters.com/st...cat=941&page=2 http://www.blueribbonflies.com/merch...eticfoam.shtml There are many more. I use cork and foam mainly, but I make the foam bodies myself by cutting them out with a wing cutter. I only use a few strands of dyed soft hackle ( game bird, partridge, etc) for legs, and no stiff cock hackles etc, |
#10
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Ants
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