Blacktail Ant

HOOK: Dai Riki 305, sizes 12-16 ABDOMEN: Maroon or dark red dubbing WINGS: Cream Raffia or Swiss Straw HACKLE: Black, tied sparse THORAX: Black dubbing

Uses

Imitates ants. Ants are very common on both rivers and lakes, especially in the midsummer months. Small streams are a particularly good venue for casting ant patterns.

 
This simple pattern works well for heavily pressured fish. The Raffia wing, though fragile, has the perfect translucency when wet. When dry, the abdomen can look gaudy, but the color changes when it's wet and it looks quite realistic.

 
Click for tying instructions.

How to Fish

Dress abdomen and thorax with floatant and use standard dry fly presentations.

Tying Instructions

1. Tie in thread

2. Dub red abdomen. It should be about 40% of the body length

3. Tie in wing material perpendicular to the body, then position it back over the abdomen with thread wraps.

4. Tie in hackle, make two wraps. Tie off and trim excess.

5. Dub the black thorax, about 25% of the hook shank length.

6. Build a tiny head (3-4 wraps of thread), whip finish and varnish.