Mart's Parachute Ant
During the warmer months of the year, they are just about anywhere... Ants.
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 Ready for summer! Martin Westbeek |
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Later in summer ants will be on leaves and in branches of streamside vegetation, looking for food. They live in dead trees by the streams, and lots of them drop into the water. In these ants trout and grayling have a constant supply of food all season round.
So whatever hatches, or if no hatch comes off at all, or if you're fishing in the heat of a summer day... an ant is a useful thing to carry.
Many ant patterns are made of foam. They look great, and are fast and easy to tie, too. The problem with these foam ants, however, is that they float quite high. Real ants don’t. They only float for a brief moment and then slowly sink. Enter the parachute ant: a low-riding parachute ant with a submerged body and a post of poly yarn and two strands of pearl Crystal Flash for visibility.
About Mart's Parachute Ant
| Type | Dry fly |
| Originator | Martin Westbeek |
| Year of origin | 2007 |
| Difficulty | Medium |
| Target species | Brown trout Grayling Arctic char |
Materials
| Hook | TMC 102Y, #17 |
| Thread | Hyperfine, brown (or black) or any other fine, strong thread |
| Post | White poly yarn |
| Flash | One strand of pearl Crystal Flash |
| Abdomen and head | Brown (or black, or cinnamon) Superfine Dubbing |
| Waist | Thread wraps |
| Hackle | Whiting Saddle, brown, grizzly dyed brown (or black) |
| Marker | Felt tip, brown, black or cinnamon |
Tying instructions
Click on the images for more detailed tying instructions
Drowned Ant
Sometimes trout seem to prefer an ant that fishes deeper. In that case, or if you come to a deep spot where you just know that there should be a fish down there, simply modify the fly. Clip off most of the parachute post, put a split shot on the tippet, some 30 cm from the fly, and see what happens. Works like a charm in riffles, too.
Good fishing!
Submitted May 11th 2008
I'm gonna try this one too. Looks catchie.