Thanks for the pattern Wes. Just got home from the waters... :o( Ants, Hare's Ears, Streaking Caddis, Boatmen, Damsels, Sawyers, Bitch Creeks... And so on. Didn't matter what I offered them. The only thing I caught was a large branch. I almost got a heartattack when I felt the weight...but I recovered soon when I saw the leaves rising in the water. I was VERY close to a much bigger catch though. I was aiming for a fish sneaking around about 15 meters in front of me and just when I was going to lay the Streaking down, the wind took it and I got a nice slap in my ear. Streamer hook size #8. I was lucky I didn't return home with an extra ear ring (flower power style).
Maybe next time the ant population has recovered from last weekend. Really hoping for friendlier wind too... /Nick -----Ursprungligt meddelande----- Fr�n: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] F�r Wes Wada Skickat: den 24 maj 2004 17:54 Till: [EMAIL PROTECTED] �mne: Re: SV: [VFB] Fishing report from Sweden - Tom Niclas Runarsson wrote: > The rainbows I caught last weekend were packed with ants, so I've just > finished some flying ants and a couple of water boatmen. I am beginning to think that one of the best patterns a flyfisher can carry during late March - June is a black bodied, winged pattern in sizes from 10-16. In a recent 4-days of fishing at Sugar Creek Ranch in northern California, the most effective pattern was a #12 winged foam ant that I developed years ago for Hosmer Lake. This fly took about 30 rainbows up to 5 pounds off the surface during the trip, as much fun as I've had flyfishing in quite some time! Jim Burbank recently completed a trip to Oregon's Crooked River and reported that the best pattern was a black elk hair caddis. I have been following reports from the Deschutes River that small black adult stoneflies are taking fish. With one pattern in two or three sizes, you can successfully imitate: black caddis, flying ants, small black stoneflies, and a black wasp I have seen on the water at this time of year. These are patterns that the fish really torpedo when they are keyed to them, so a good floater in an approximate size is all that is required. I generally fish them on 4x tippet on broken or riffled water, and 5x for flat calm. Here's the pattern for the foam ant: WadaAnt Hook: Tiemco 2312 #12 or a fine wire caddis/scud hook #14 Thread: black Body: Rainey's float foam cord, small, black (for smaller sizes, carefully cut the foam in half lengthwise and tie rounded side downward) Legs: black hackle Wings: medium weight plastic bag material (clear or smokey grey) 1. Wrap winds of thread from eye to just above barbed area of hook. 2. Trim one end of Float Foam cord to shape or round the end. (An alternative method is to singe the end of the cord in the flame of an alcohol lamp, candle, or cigarette lighter, then rub and rotate the cord on an abrasive surface such as concrete. This rounds the ends quickly and neatly, and provides an outdoor project to get you outside the tying room.) 3. Tie on the cord to the hook so that a section that includes the end of the foam cord projects back from the bend of the hook forming the abdomen. Size the abdomen by where you tie it down on the hook shank. Wrap thread to compress the foam and to make a definite segment division between the sections of foam. 4. Throw a few wraps of thread in front of the tie in point under the foam and a few more over and around the foam to lock it in place. 5. Wrap the thread to center of shank, tie in black hackle shiny side forward, then wrap 2 times, tie off. 6. Continue thread forward to a point just behind the eye of the hook, then tie down foam at second point, forming the thorax and head area. 7. Use a scissor to cut the foam head off from the surplus foam cord, angle scissor horizontally to produce an anvil shaped head. 8. Use a large scissor to cut two connected plastic strips from a medium weight plastic baggie. These should be as wide a wing as needed, and longer than the final result. Shape as desired. 9. I use a foam sandpaper block in my tying station to hold and clean bodkin needles. Grasping the cut plastic strip between thumb and finger and pressing it against the sandpaper block with a finger of the other hand, I drag each strip of plastic across the sanding block making realistic veining in the plastic. 10. Cut the wings apart, then tie them in the thread area between head and thorax, trim the excess. Anytime I show this pattern to someone and call it an ANT, the response is always: "But it's so big!" So these days I am almost reluctant to call it an ant... let's just say that, proven over time, it's a winged black attractor that really catches fish! Wes Wada Bend, Oregon
