 ANTS — Sight-fishing to clear-stream fish with a basic pattern — by Fred Steynberg
ANTS that land up in the currents of clear mountain streams, whether on wing or foot, become a source of food — not only for our “wild” trout species, but also for many different indigenous yellowfish and minnows. A number of different ant species are present in areas that surround clear mountain streams, and if flyfishers are equipped with a couple of basic ant patterns, much fun can be had sight-fishing to fish on both floating and submerged imitations.
To start naming ants that land up in the feeding zones of fish would be suicide — I will leave that to the entomologists. To research each individual ant on location and to make a summary of their habits and appearances is not the object of this article. My objective is firstly to point out the importance of ants to both fish and anglers, as has been written about so many times in the past, and secondly to illustrate how to tie one of the best generic, high country ant patterns.
Non-flying ants often land up in the water when they are dislodged by wind or rain from streamside vegetation, rocks or the river bank. They often also lose their footing when foraging too close to the water’s edge, and once in the current they are pretty helpless as swimming is not their forte. The current is pretty much in control of the helpless ant’s destiny.
Most ants stay afloat for long distances downstream and are taken off the surface by fish, while others eventually submerge and are taken below the surface in the “nymph-line”.
Different flying ants in different colours and sizes occur in great numbers around mountain areas in summer. Hatches are often stimulated by pressure changes, thunderstorms and soft rain. Large columns of ants cross over rivers and streams, and in this aerial migrating and/or mating process many flying ants land up in the water.
This phenomenon could be called a flying ant fall, and often kilometres of a single river could have fish rising to the fall of these flying ants. If you are ever in the right place at the right time, an event such as this can be spectacular as all fish large and small will start looking up.
If many fish are prevalent in a specific area, then a surface feeding frenzy is likely.
The problem is that due to their iridescent wings and delicate, low-floating bodies, small flying ants are extremely difficult to see. Therefore, often anglers confuse the ant fall for some aquatic insect hatch and frantically try to determine how to imitate the food source.
It is not difficult to determine whether a flying ant fall is likely for the day, and it is not impossible to determine whether fish are rising to ants or other small aquatic hatches. Be vigilant when walking on the river bank and while fishing.
Even guides who are on the stream more than most find it difficult to observe all that may affect the fish’s feeding habits. When I fish, I constantly scan the sky for telltale signs of flying ants that might be seen in columns, spirals or in small dancing packs. Seeing birds such as swallows, starlings and ground woodpeckers feeding in mid-air is often a dead giveaway that a hatch is occurring.
Many of these ants also land up on rocks that line the river. Here they can easily be recognised, but one needs to be aware of what goes on around or on the river.
Read the full story in the August/September 2009 issue of FLYFISHING.
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