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 bobbeegee |
Hard body black ants? |
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Posts: 1800 07/13/2008 17:51 |
Made a killing today fishing a hard body black ant. Plop, take. Magical. Must have been an abundance of black ants available?
Don't know why it would make much difference, but is any tie better than another? Thought I would pose the question to our resident fly tyers. Bob 
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 shakeylee |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 102 07/14/2008 05:41 |
i know i have more ant luck with starling hackle than chicken.
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DrLogik |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 1470 07/14/2008 18:58 |
I tie some of mine with black acetate thread/floss (not an easy thing to do by the way) and when done dab a little acetone on the thorax and abdomen with a
Q-Tip to let the acetone melt the acetate yarn and turn it glossy/hard black. Read about that in a magazine a number of years ago. Works pretty well.
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16 pmd |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 548 07/15/2008 00:10 |
An easy and durable wet ant is Harry Steeves' Transparant. Make the two lumps with thread (usually red or black), then coat with 5 min. epoxy. Make a bunch
of bodies, let dry, then wrap a couple of turns of hen or other soft hackle. Bodies are easy to make, glossy/transparent and indestructible.
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bob4st |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 103 07/18/2008 23:20 |
...I buy these shiny black ants made of Balsa wood from Mary Dette in Roscoe, NY... I believe she said they were painted with "Japan Black"... I
don't know why, but they are remarkably effective... they sound similar in appearance to DRLogik's pattern... however, Mary will warn you that they are
brittle and usually don't last more than a few fish... more often only one or two... but I sure as heck don't mind!...
Bob |
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Dewardian |
Hard body ants | #5 | ||
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Posts: 28 07/21/2008 10:30 |
There was a popular patten a couple of decades ago called a McMurray ant. Fly Fisherman magazine did a lot to popularize the pattern.
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Zenkoanhead |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 1348 07/21/2008 17:30 |
I read somewhere that ants are actually pretty hairy. Tie a ball front and rear and use one coat of superglue or varnish. You don't need a perfect shell.
You might want to tie in any hackle after the finish dries. Don
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bobbeegee |
#7 | |||
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Posts: 1819 07/21/2008 18:01 |
Thank you all for the replies. The hard body is indestructible, as stated. For the floating ant, I've always used a black or cinnamon dubbed divided body
with the appropriate turn, or turns, of the same color hackle, although I do not tie anymore, it wrecked my eyes! I agree the wooden bodies do not hold up
well, and unless very well proportioned, will helicopter on ya! Well dressed, the dubbed ants will float very well. I love fishing it in a small pool and see a
brown
dash rapidly across the pool to devour it. What fun! Bob
Last Edited By: bobbeegee 07/21/2008 18:06.
Edited 1 time.
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thegubster |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 1319 07/31/2008 07:43 |
Ants/beetles..these are a fav. of mine also. I've done a fair bit of toying around with patterns, especially involving legs.
What I"ve found that's become a favorite of mine is to use a few (3) PT fibers.You take a black Magic Marker and brush backwards to see those tiny 'hairs" poke out and then tie all 3 in with a criss-crossed pattern. Trim to length and "scrunch" between your fingers to wrinkle 'em. These have been found to work the best for me against a variety of other options. I love beetles and ants and the way trout rise up to sip them. Jeremy. |
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bob4st |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 112 08/12/2008 22:04 |
...all great suggestions... I'm gonna try some...
thanks, Bob |
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shakeylee |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 105 08/13/2008 15:45 |
gubster,any pics?
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Dewardian |
Hard body ants | #11 | ||
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Posts: 30 08/25/2008 11:53 |
Being somewhat digitally challenged, I will try to figure it out and post some pictures of the Mc Murray ants.
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thegubster |
You betcha | #12 | ||
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Posts: 1339 08/25/2008 17:52 |
shakeylee wrote:
Last Edited By: thegubster 08/25/2008 18:02.
Edited 1 time.
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bobbeegee |
#13 | |||
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Posts: 1900 08/25/2008 19:28 |
Very cool looking fly Jeremy.
Kinda looks like a cross between an ant and a beetle. I can imagine myself as a fat ole brown, not really hungry, but just having to avail myself of that protein-laden bug! Bob |
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thegubster |
#14 | |||
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Posts: 1341 08/25/2008 22:00 |
Bob,
With apologies to the orig. poster. It seems I got the specifics of this topic off track a tad and threw in a mix of some beetles and ants. Thanks for this reminder. |
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shakeylee |
#15 | |||
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Posts: 108 08/26/2008 03:43 |
thank you so much !!!
i tyed a few ants lately with pheasant tail bodies.look nice,but no takers. |
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j2t |
#16 | |||
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Posts: 148 09/09/2008 14:08 |
I like the Transparant for sinking versions.
Dubbed body w/ legs of either hackle or dyed elk/deer hair for the "classic" ants -- usually black & cinnamon. I tie my big Carpenter ants out of dyed Elk -- ditto the legs. -J |
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Really, it does. these camera's of today are incredible and will make me a better tier. Thanks for the prompt. Now excuse me while I get
carried away.....
