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Parachute Ant
A terrestrial, tied #14–20, a summer pattern. It is tied against 2 named insects in this book — June–September.
An ant pattern reworked so it can be seen at forty feet without changing what the trout is looking at. The hook is a standard dry-fly in sizes 14–20, the thread black 8/0, the body black dubbing shaped into two humps with a waist between them, the hackle black and wound parachute-style around a white poly post. Legs are optional. It is tied against two terrestrials: the black ant, Formicidae, from June through September in water between 55 and 80 degrees, and the cinnamon flying ant, the alate form, in August and September between 58 and 78 degrees. It is a summer fly. The fishing is the same as any ant — the insect is unchanged, only made visible — and the parachute post exists for the angler, not the trout. Trout are the target species.
- #14–20Hook size
- terrestrialType
- SummerSeason
- 2Hatches 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
- Cinnamon Flying Ant Formicidae (alate) · August–September · 58–78°F · #16–20
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 dubbing, two humps with a waist |
| Wing post | White poly, parachute |
| Hackle | Black, parachute |
| Legs | Optional |
When to fish it
The same insect, made visible. The parachute post is for the angler, not the trout.
A summer pattern. The insects it matches are active june–september, 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.
- Black Foam Ant terrestrial · #14–20 — Floats low, which is how a real ant sits. Small water, tight to the bank.
- Cinnamon Flying Ant terrestrial · #16–20 — Carry a few in late August. When the fall happens nothing else will do.
- 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.