Ants or Beetles

jifigz

jifigz

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Joined
Dec 8, 2013
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4,560
Location
Miff-Co, PA
It's terrestrial time, and this is when fishing dry fly terrestrial patterns can really shine. Are you more of an ant or a beetle person?

I much, much, much prefer ant dry flies. Parachute ant, FTW.
 
I'll generally use beetles to match a terrestrial "hatch" if I'm not close to a grassy area with grasshoppers or crickets. I'll try a dubbing body ant for a few casts but will switch to an Adams when I can't keep it afloat. I have trouble seeing a foam body ant - especially when the orange head breaks off. (Lastly, nothing twists my tippet more than cut feather flying ant wings, so I almost never use them.)
 
I’m a hopper guy. They’re just fun to fish, even if they elicit less strikes than smaller terrestrial patterns. I like fishing them in up/off color Summer conditions and dropping a huge Stonefly off them.

I will say this, when I can’t fool a rising fish in the Summer time with the standard fare, more often than not, I can get them to take a flying ant pattern. And I carry a few flying ants in all of my boxes for that scenario. FWIW. I almost wonder if they get mistaken for a midge cluster, but if the fish eats it, I don’t really care what they thought it was.
 
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Swattie87 said:
I’m a hopper guy. They’re just fun to fish, even if they illicit less strikes than smaller terrestrial patterns. I like fishing them in up/off color Summer conditions and dropping a huge Stonefly off them.

I will say this, when I can’t fool a rising fish in the Summer time with the standard fare, more often than not, I can get them to take a flying ant pattern. And I carry a few flying ants in all of my boxes for that scenario. FWIW. I almost wonder if they get mistaken for a midge cluster, but if the fish eats it, I don’t really care what they thought it was.
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First of all, hoppers and crickets weren't even a choice, so play by the rules, fellas. We all know they are miles below ants and beetles for PA fishing. I'm just kidding, though. It's good to hear that input.
 
I enjoy fishing both ants and beetles. That being said an ant will outfish a beetle 9 times out of 10. Here’s a flying ant pattern that I shared on the fly tying forum a couple of weeks back.

IMG_0109.jpeg
 
I prefer ant patterns and love the little white parachute “indicator”, but I think I have caught more on just a standard furry ant pattern.
I don’t think I have ever caught a trout on a beetle pattern. Other than when obviously seeing them on the water, is there a better time to use a beetle over an ant pattern?
 
jifigz said:
I'm a parachute ant guy, but I'm tying some of these up tonight.
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I’ve always had difficulty getting a parachute ant to float well. The flying ant style, similar to what dc410 posted above, with a hackle around the body really helps with floatation.
 
Ants. Both the dry and hard bodied style always produce for me.

I have a bunch of beetles in my box but don’t fish them often. I think it’s mostly due to the confidence in the ant as opposed to anything else.
 
Swattie87 said:
I’ve always had difficulty getting a parachute ant to float well. The flying ant style, similar to what dc410 posted above, with a hackle around the body really helps with floatation.
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That is interesting. I have always found the parachute ant to float extremely well. I tend to fish them in flatter water, however.
 
jifigz said:
That is interesting. I have always found the parachute ant to float extremely well. I tend to fish them in flatter water, however.
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I’m usually fishing heavier water, you’re right there.
 
The first ant I ever bought had a sort of plastic bead body. Since I didn't even know if it floated or not, I lowered it into the water to see what it did. A Bluegill blasted up and took it right at my knees. I exercised every bass, bluegill, and fall fish in that hole with it. Don't think I ever caught a trout on one though. I still have that ant, but the red body is sort of translucent now that all the paint has been chewed off.
 
I've always liked the foam cylinder ants and have found they perform well for picky fish mid summer.

I guess I must have bought a handful when I started fishing, and now I only have one or so left. Unfortunately, I never see that cylinder foam material in any shops, and I've never been motivated to pay shipping. I'm sure I'll stumble across some eventually.
 
Beetles 997% of the time...

I hardly ever fish an ant because beetles work so good for me.

If I'm not fishing a beetle it's a foam bee pattern.
 
Ant or beetle? Generally speaking, I'll go with the ant. If I see beetle traps around gardens in the vicinity of the crick then the beetle goes on first.
How about a beetle on top with a sunken ant underneath? Can we have it both ways in this conversation?
I saw a Loco Foam beetle on a YouTube tying video and seem to have success with that.
 
I'm an ant guy but bending the rules (of this thread anyway) since I almost always fish ants wet, as a dropper off a popper for pans or a dropper off a bead head for trout. Could say that I have caught hundreds of trout this way but since I'm a geezer I may have to move that number up a decimal point. Deadly on Blue gills and pretty much skunk proof on a decent lake.
 
I used to tie and fish ants almost exclusively
And they work well.

Then I decided to start trying beetles also.
I think that they work just as well too
And a little quicker to tie - since I'm only making one hump, instead of two.
I now use them !00 % of the time - in sizes #12 to #20.

The lower and clearer the water is, the smaller the pattern I use
 
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