Terrestrials
and Extra-Terrestrials
Insects that are largely landlubbers are
called terrestrials, and several are important trout food. Examples are ants, moths, bees, wasps, beetles, crickets and grasshoppers.
Anyone who’s experienced an evening fall of flying ants on a lake knows the trout feeding frenzy and extraordinary fly
fishing opportunity created by terrestrials. Trout feeding on ants may however be very selective, so fly fishers need to be
prepared with a range of ant imitations in several sizes and colours.
Please note that, although some of our flies may look more like extra-terrestrials,
these flies should look fairly realistic when viewed from below by a discriminating trout.
Here’s
an effective and easy-to-tie dry fly, an ant imitation.
Black Ant
Hook –
Dry fly hook such as Mustad 94840 in sizes 12 – 16
Thread –
Black
Body
Hackle - Four turns black cock or saddle hackle wound in X shape as in a thorax dry fly
Body –
Black closed-cell foam
Head - Black
thread finished with 2 coats of glossy head cement
Closed-Cell
Foam
The body of this fly is made
from closed-cell foam, a great new material for fashioning fishing flies. It floats like a cork, doesn’t absorb water,
and is durable. It comes in many colours and is inexpensive, sometimes even found in “dollar stores”. It is also
modified, coloured, or cut into shapes specifically for fly tying and sold as Loco Foam, Furry Foam and other products.
Like any new material, innovative fly tiers are experimenting with it and creating and testing new and old fly patterns
from it. For example, St. Mary’s River angler Frank Walford ties a neat, effective, easy-to-tie Buck Bug with a Furry
Foam body.
A good reference book is Tying
Flies with Foam, Fur and Feathers by Harrison R. Steeves III, published by Stackpole Books in 2003 (ISBN 978-0-8117-2909-3).
Please
stay on the line …