Flying Ants

The classic fall honey ant

A few days ago my wife and I headed out from our camp a short distance from the Battenkill to see what was happening that evening. I had my rod packed but wasn't sure whether or not I would even uncase it. A pleasant drive along the river would be enjoyable enough.

No sooner than we hopped out of the car at our first "observation post", we noticed ants flying about. A quick glance at the river confirmed that there was indeed an ant fall at hand. Several trout were rising with regularity. It was time to gear up and get on the water. I'd love to report that what happened after this was the most productive hour of fishing of the season. Unfortunately, my performance on stream was anything but brilliant and I got a deserved skunking. I had well and truly been overtaken by an angling version of buck fever. I flailed away and adroitly put down every fish in front of me. When I got off the water and was ready to move on, a quick glance showed that the fish were back on the feed. I left. I have played this game too many times before. Later on, I did manage to take a couple small browns but that was to a spinner fall of little olive mayflies.

As I landed my second small brown trout my friend Phil Monahan drove by and paused to tell me that there had been a flying ant fall. I simply groaned and replied "I know" somewhat tersely.

Flying ants truly get anglers excited, and for good reason. A good ant fall will bring many trout to the top of the water, including large trout that have not taken anything off the surface since the early season Hendrickson hatches. I have observed large trout feeding with amazing inefficiency to flying ants - dashing here and there to grab every fly possible when the fall is somewhat sparse. This is a completely opposite behavior of the way trout are supposed to feed. Then again, during truly heavy ant falls I have also seen and fished to trout that rise with the classic steady rhythm one expects from these river monsters.

There are many theories as to why trout feed on ants with such gusto. I have heard everything from the trout liking the taste to the bugs having a psychedelic effect on the trout. I'm not sure how one measures whether a trout is getting stoned or not. Whatever the case may be, trout due indeed love flying ants.

The stomach contents of a trout going on an ant eating spree. With a side of stonefly!

When discussing flying ants, I am speaking of two different versions. There is often a fall of tiny flying ants on warm and humid summer mornings. I discussed these in my previous posts about tricos. They are a black ant in a size 24 and can be considered a "masking" hatch. To the untrained eye they look a bit like trico's with upright wings. Upon closer inspection they tiny little ants with far less robust bodies than even tricos and their wings are held upright and perpendicular to their bodies. The wings catch the light of the sun rather well and that is how they are often spotted.

The flying ant that most anglers think of is the one that occurs anytime from mid to late August on into September. These are size 16 - 18 bugs, typically honey colored but not infrequently black as well. It is not unusual to see the two mix in, which adds to the complexity of the situation.

 Flying Ant patterns need not be complex. Simplicity works fine.

Flying ants stir excitement not just by the trout that feed so heavily on them, but also among anglers. Once they begin to appear, text messages begin to fly as friends keep each other informed as to whether or not ants are about. Anglers along the river will query one another with hopefulness as to whether or not these winged terrestrials have been seen.

The appearance of ant flights can seem mercurial and somewhat random, but there is at least a little predictability as to when they will happen. Tom Rosenbauer notes in his really fine book The Orvis Guide to Hatch Strategies that ant flights occur "often on a slightly humid day 24 to 48 hours after a major rain". I would certainly concur that a touch of humidity is a key to a flight taking place. I will note that I have seen ant colonies taking flight within hay fields. More than once, I have seen funnel clouds emerging from the ground, looking a little like mini tornadoes. Sometimes there are two or three colonies emerging at the same time.

In my early angling days, I viewed ant flights as being a late afternoon / evening affair. That is not true. It is not unusual to see flights on humid August and September mornings or during mid-day. They can happen at any time. And anywhere. Sometimes over long distances of river and at other times highly concentrated. It is not at all unusual for one angler to be beaming after experiencing a great rise to these morsels while another angler trudges off the river after a decidedly unproductive day on the water.

Brook trout are already beginning to take on fall colors when the first flights of ants are seen in late August or early September.

There are, of course, many different patterns one can employ to meet the ant flights of late summer. I tie a pretty simple "honey" ant and do well with this fly. That said, the singularly best ant day that I have experienced (on a day when a friend caught a 22" and 24" fish on ants) found me with no specific pattern to meet the moment. I simply grabbed a tan Vt caddis in a size 18 and had a remarkable day. I took fish in riffled water and fish in pools. It didn't seem to matter. The day ended with me casting over a genuinely enormous trout that I failed to raise after a half hours effort. That fish came up for flies steadily, its head coming completely out of the water, showing an enormous kype. When the fall ended, that fish sunk back to the depths. I still "see" that fish every time I stop by that particular spot.

Rain is forecast over the weekend, and I would not be surprised to see the next round of ant flights next week.