# Black Ants



## niknoid (Mar 6, 2019)

I'm a rookie fly fisherman and have ended up with some black and flys in my kit. Are these fished like dry flys or should they sink some? 

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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Float them on top. 

We could get into a discussion about sunken terrestrials, but as a rookie, stick to floating them high.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

To add to floating them high, make sure you mend your line as well to get a natural drift.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

I've had success floating them behind a Caddis fly pattern. As much as you try, ants are hard to keep buoyant because they don't have much hackle to keep them on top. They'll act like a subsurface dropper behind the caddis.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Yep, ants can be difficult to keep afloat on faster moving water. Lakes a bit different story.

The key is to keep that bug in/on the water as much as possible. Your odds of catching a fish go way up.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

I used black ants this weekend on the Boulder—they were effective for Brooke’s on a sinking line subsurface. With that being said, I have ha great success with them as a dry for brookies and grayling on the surface as well. Great fly for mountain lakes and streams. I’ll never forget the day as a kid when the black ants were flying from the pines and landing on the surface of one of my favorite lakes—I only wish I fly fished then!


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## niknoid (Mar 6, 2019)

Thanks, I appreciate the input. I recall the ant was a recommendation for mountain lakes I was headed to. 

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## StillAboveGround (Aug 20, 2011)

You can also swing black ants in the current... where they float just under the surface. Cast 45° upstream and allow to drift and/or strip the ant back in (try various speeds). This technique is very effecting just before dark when the bottom of the river is dark, but the sky is still relatively bright. Use barbless or bend down the barbs because when this technique is working, fishing will be fast and furious and you don't want to wast that golden hour trying to unhook fish with your headlamp.


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## teledan (May 20, 2019)

I’ve had a lot of success with ants around here, I particularly like foam ants like the Bionic Ant. They seem to float really well. In fact, I just tied up a bunch earlier today.


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