Flagstaff Flying Ant
Bruce Pencek |
Flagstaff Flying Ant. Photo by Bruce Pencek. |
I came up with this pattern at the beginning of Arizona's monsoon season in 1994, when showers spurred wasp-sized flying ants to swarm, and many fell on Marshall Lake outside Flagstaff.
These carpenter ants swarm after June rains throughout the Southwest. They can be extremely effective patterns to call up trout from the depths of the San Juan River in New Mexico for a day or so after a shower -- a great relief from the micro-nymphs and strike indicators conventionally used for the big trout there.
The basic design works for wasps as well -- just vary colors to your taste and need.
Improved (2003) Version
This one was inspired by Harry Steeves's various foam creations.
- Hook:
Light-wire scud hook (eg, TMC 2457), size 12-14 (or even 10)
- Thread:
Black or dark brown
- Abdomen:
Black or dark brown foam, 1/16" thick, cut in a 2" long, 1/2" wide triangle
- Leg:
Fine black rubber leg
- Wing:
Fine black bridle veil (tulle), 4" x 1/2". (Fluorescent clear is easier to see but less lifelike.)
- Head:
Black or dark brown foam, 1/16" thick, cut in a 1/4" diameter disk.
- Debarb hook.
- Affix thread at eye and wind to halfway around bend of hook.
- Tie in pointy end of foam. Begin with loose wraps, then make tigher ones over those wraps, covering the foam. Wrap to middle of hook shank.
- Fold foam forward, without stretching it, and secure it at the middle of the hook. Make several wraps forward to create a distinct "wasp waist."
- Form the tulle into a tube. Fold it end-to-end around the hook-thread junction; the wing will point up. Figure-eight thread around the wing to secure it, then add wraps to form it into a down wing.
- Tie in a pair of rubber legs on each side, so that the wing and leg wraps will form a thorax. Secure all the wraps with water-resistant superglue (e.g., Zap-a-Gap).
- Bring the foam over/through the wings, tie off, trim, and cement.
- Make several wraps forward to create another wasp waist.
- Tie in head disk at its back edge, so that leading edge extends over the hook eye.
- Whip finish. Cement.
- Optional: Use spots of yellow fabric paint on the disk to improve visibility.
Original (1994) Version
- Hook:
Light-wire scud hook (eg, TMC 2457), size 12-14 (or even 10)
- Thread:
Black or dark brown
- Body:
Black dubbing, preferably shiny
- Hackle:
Furnace (brown with black stripe along stem)
- Underwing:
10-12 black organze ("sparkle satin," "sparkle wing") fibers
- Overwing:
Gray or bronze elk or deer, tied sparse
- Debarb hook.
- Affix thread at eye and wind to halfway around bend of hook.
- Form teardrop-shaped abdomen with dubbing, nearly halfway to eye of hook. (Tip: use paste floatant instead of wax to help dubbing stick to thread in this step.)
- Make several wraps of plain thread ahead of abdomen. This helps retain the distinctive shape. Tie in hackle. Wrap halfway to eye. (Dark part of hackle will create thorax.)
- Trim bottom of hackle so fly rests flat on water.
- Tie in sparkle satin fibers. While it is OK to tie them in straight, the fly looks more lifelike if you tie them in as hook-long loops. (If you opt for loops, of course, use only 5-6 fibers -- and if you
don't like the look of your loops, cut them.)
- Splay these fibers/loops to simulate spent wings.
- Tie in overwing as on elk hair caddis. Hair should extend no longer than the sparkle fibers.
- Whip finish. Trim hair as on elk hair caddis. Cement, preferably with a water-resistant superglue (e.g., Zap-a-Gap).
Gene Trump featured this version in his "Fly Wrap-Up" column in Flyfishing magazine shortly after I posted the recipe to the Flyfishing Digest listserv, c. 1995. And he even took pictures of it.