As soon as we get the first period of nice, sunny and warm weather in May the first flying ants occur. This happend 3 days ago and luckily i was out fishing with my friends Robert and Tom. There where a few ants landing on the water, not many but enough to attract the trout to come up. When the common red forest ant (Formica rufa) is on the wings it is seldom in big numbers. Unlike many other species of ants that concentrate their swarming to a few days this type of ant can go on for a month with its work of creating new clolonies. These early flyers are a big bite, aprox size 12, once a trout have tasted one… The fish is hooked on them and will take your imitation! This is the ant for may, get out on the next sunny day!
Here is a clip we made from our trip on tuesday…
Rune & Robban videos is nothing fancy, just our way of making memories from our trips. Rune works for Guideline and Robert is working Gero Sportsfiske a large store that sells fishing equipment.
Todays Tackle:
Rune: Lpxe 904, Quadra 24 with Experience line WF4F.
Robert: Fario 865, HAZE V2 46 with Presentation line WF5f.
Rune’s Special Ant – The Goo Maur (Maur = ant).
Hook: TMC 111 size 11 or TMC 2488 size 12.
Thread: Black, Benecchi 12/0 or TMC 16/0.
Abdomen: Black Floss silk ribbed with peacock quill.
Hackle: Brown or brown grizzly like here.
Wing: Nat. Brown cdc.
Thorax: Black Fly-Rite.
To make the abdomen strong you need to add glue to it. I use Bug-Bond which is clear, strong and flexible. I tie this fly mostly on a slightly curved hook to make the abdomen hang deep in the surface. I have also other versions with flashmaterials as rib to get a even more shiny buggy look. The real ants often have this green or blue shine in its body. Try it out!
Another good thing is to add a little organza to the wings to get that shiny look like the real ones.
Tight lines
Rune