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Black Foam Ant
A terrestrial, tied #14–20, a summer pattern. It is tied against 4 named insects in this book — May–October.
A low-floating terrestrial dry on a standard dry-fly hook in sizes 14 through 20, tied with black 8/0 thread. The body is black foam in two segments with a pinched waist between them; the legs are black Krystal Flash or fine rubber, three to a side; and a small orange or pink foam dot can be added on top as an indicator, since the fly itself is nearly impossible to track. It floats low, which is how a real ant sits — an ant riding high is the wrong ant. The dressing is tied against the black ant, Formicidae, on the water from June through September between 55 and 80 degrees, and against the cricket, Gryllidae, from August through October between 55 and 75 degrees. It is carried in summer and fished for trout on small brushy water, worked in against the bank and drifted in the film rather than on it.
- #14–20Hook size
- terrestrialType
- SummerSeason
- 4Hatches matched
What it looks like
A drawing, not a photograph, and not traced from one. Its proportions were read off 5 independent reference photographs of the pattern and written down as 5 measured characteristics — wing angle, tail length against the shank, how far a hackle fibre reaches — every one of which had to hold across more than one of them before it could be drawn. What survives across many photographs of a fly is the fly.
What it imitates
Each of these is the same hatch record the app's own panel reads, so a pattern recommended on a river card in the app is recommended for one of the insects below.
- Black Ant Formicidae · June–September · 55–80°F · #14–20
- Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae · May–September · 55–75°F · #8–14
- Cricket Gryllidae · August–October · 55–75°F · #10–14
- Leafhopper Cicadellidae · June–September · 58–75°F · #18–22
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | Standard dry-fly hook, sizes 14–20 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 8/0 |
| Body | Black foam, tied in two segments with a pinched waist |
| Legs | Black Krystal Flash or fine rubber, three per side |
| Indicator | Optional small orange or pink foam dot |
When to fish it
Any summer day on small brushy water. Fish it against the bank and in the film — an ant that rides high is the wrong ant.
A summer pattern. The insects it matches are active may–october, in water from 55°F to 80°F.
Target species
- Trout
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Escanaba River the Upper Peninsula · July mean 68.3°F
- Saint Croix River northern Wisconsin · July mean 77.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Foam Beetle terrestrial · #12–18 — Black foam, a bit of flash on top. The most reliable summer dry on wooded streams.
- Black Cricket terrestrial · #10–14 — Late summer into October, after the hoppers thin out.
- Foam Inchworm terrestrial · #12–16 — A length of bright green foam and nothing else. Cast tight to overhanging hardwood; the natural arrives from above, not from upstream.
- Jassid terrestrial · #18–22 — A tiny flat-winged terrestrial, jungle-cock or feather wing lacquered flat. Vincent Marinaro's fly for flat water and steady sippers.
- Parachute Ant terrestrial · #14–20 — The visible ant. Same fly, but you can see it at forty feet.