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December 2004 Fly Of The Month
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Amy's Ant
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| One of the best known fly fishermen and
fly tiers in the world, Jack Dennis, developed this pattern
in 1994. This incredibly durable and visible fly has enjoyed
a rather illustrious career including taking top honors
at the Jackson Hole One Fly Contest. Using a two day old,
used Amy's Ant found on the floor of the guide's car,
Joe Bressler scored over 700 points in one day of fishing.
The sparkling underbody, buggy looking hackle, and swimming
action of its rubber legs makes this fly irresistible
to big fish. |
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Hook: Tiemco 200R or equivalent 3XL
hook -size 10 to 14
Thread: Black 6/0
Underbody: Tan foam - ¼" wide strip
Overbody: Brown foam - wider strip than underbody
Body: Olive or olive-brown krystal chenille or
ice dubbing
Legs: Brown round rubber - medium
Hackle: Brown, grizzly or dun saddle hackle - under
sized
Wing: Light elk hair over small clump of pearl
krystal flash or rainbow thread
Thorax: Peacock dubbing
Wingcase: Overbody foam pulled back and tied down
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A Sea of Foam
by Paul Prentiss
As a boy I recall cardboard displays holding sponge
rubber spiders sold in hardware stores and gas stations
for $.15 each. They were billed as pan fish flies, but
I found that they worked quite well on trout and other
surface feeding fish.
I didn't think much about these patterns for a good
many years until foam flies started appearing in fly
fishing magazines. John Betts, a very well known Colorado
fly tyer who was very instrumental in the adoption of
synthetic materials, was a very early proponent of evasote
fly foam
At first, the focus was on ants. You could buy or punch
out your own cylinders to lash on to a hook with a bit
of hackle. Effectively replacing the McMurray Ants (very
popular in the 1980's). Although a broad range of terrestrial
patterns began to appear, foam was simply not in the
mainstream.
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| Almost over night, high density closed cell
foam flies became red hot. A pattern used by a number
of Green River Guides, the Chernobyl Ant, produced the
winning score at the famous One Fly Contest in Jackson
Hole Wyoming. The story goes that it was Emmett Heath,
a well know guide in the region that brought this fly
pattern to the attention of fishermen in Jackson Hole.
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By the late 1990's the bins in western
fly shops were full of foam creations. Materials suppliers
moved quickly meet the growing demand. The range of
colors, sizes, and shapes grew by leaps and bounds.
Today these patterns are a staple in any retail store
or catalog that offers flies or fly tying material for
sale.
Why is closed foam so attractive? For starters its
durable, widely available, floats like a cork, inexpensive,
and easy to work with. You can color it, shape it with
heat or tension, and glue it. The list goes on and on.
Foam flies range from simplistic to elaborate. They're
a great option for beginners because you can teach a
novice to tie a basic terrestrial pattern such as a
beetle in under hour. More complicated patterns such
as our fly of the week, Amy's Ant (named after Jack's
daughter) can be challenging. But the effort is certainly
worth the time. This terrestrial pattern is absolutely
deadly when cast tight against the bank and given a
twitch of two. Best of all it can take a tremendous
beating and remain completely fishable all day.
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