Rocky River Trout Unlimited

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  • Rocky River TU
    • RRTU Events >
      • Monthly Meetings
      • Streamside Day Trips
      • Alarka Trips
      • Fly Tying Classes >
        • Instructional Tyers
    • Davidson River HEP
    • Conservation >
      • Conservation Partners >
        • NC Camo Coalition
    • Diversity >
      • WOMEN ON THE FLY
      • BSA Merit Badge
    • We welcome your feedback!
    • Become a TU Member
    • Mission and Brief History
  • FORR
  • Programs
    • Trout In The Classroom
    • RiverCourse Fly Fishing Youth Camp
    • Casting Carolinas
    • Wilson Creek Adopt-A-Stream and Stream Watch
    • South Mountain Adopt-A-Park
    • Stone Mountain State Park
  • Resources
    • Fly of the Month Patterns >
      • DRY FLY PATTERNS >
        • Adams Variant
        • Asher
        • Atherton No 5
        • Baigent's Variant
        • Blue Quill
        • BWO
        • BWO Catskill
        • BWO CDC Emerger
        • BWO Sparkle Dun
        • BWO Spinner
        • Carolina Wulff
        • CDC Biot Comparadun
        • CDL Comparadun
        • Coachman Variant
        • Conner's October Caddis
        • Crackleback
        • Dragonfly Dry
        • Dry Pheasant Tail Variant
        • Dun Fly, August Fly,Wasp Fly
        • Early Nelson
        • Egg Laying Caddis
        • Troth Elk Hair Caddis FFI
        • Elk Hair Caddis
        • EZ Caddis
        • Female Adams
        • Fluttering Caddis
        • Ginger Quill
        • Gray Fox Variant
        • Grey Hackle Yellow Dry
        • Griffith's Gnat
        • Hazel Creek
        • Hendrickson
        • H & L Variant
        • Hopper Juan
        • Infallible
        • Japanese Beetle
        • Jassid
        • Jim Charley
        • Klinkhamer
        • Lacewing
        • Light Cahill Catskill
        • Little Green and Little Yellow Stonefly
        • Mr. Rapidan
        • North Carolina Yellow Sally
        • FFI Parachute Adams
        • Parachute Adams
        • Pheasant Tail Dry Fly.Skues
        • Puff Diddy
        • October Caddis
        • Orange Forked Tail
        • Rattler
        • Red Headed Caddis
        • Smoky Mountian Candy
        • Sunkist
        • Trude
        • Rusty Spinner
        • Sulphurs Part 1
        • Sulphur Part 2
        • Yellow Palmer
      • Dry Attractor
      • Midges >
        • Grey Goose Midge Emerger
        • Morgan's Midge
      • Nymphs >
        • Brassie
        • Chironimid
        • Copper John
        • Crossover Nymph
        • Crow Fly
        • Damsel Fly Nymph
        • Deep Sparkle Caddis Pupa
        • Devil's Doorstop
        • Girdle Bug
        • Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear
        • Guinea
        • Hare's Ear Nymph FFI
        • Hot Creek Special
        • Mr. Rapidan
        • Peridgon Nymph
        • BH Prince Nymph FFI
        • BH Prince Nymph
        • Realistic Stonefly
        • Royal Prince
        • Secret Weapon
        • Scud
        • Egan's Tasmanian Devil
        • Tups Indespensible
      • Pupae/Larva
      • Scud >
        • UV Scud
      • Soft Hackles >
        • Center Bead Soft Hackle
        • Grey Hackle Soft hackle
        • Orange Partridge Soft Hackle
      • Terrestrials >
        • Amy's Ant
        • Alen's Cow Killer
        • Cricket
        • Inchworm
        • Jack Cabe Hopper
        • Little River Ant
        • Moth
        • Murray's Flying Beetle
        • Parachute Ant
        • Texas Piss Ant
      • Wet Fly Patterns >
        • Black Gnat
        • Blue Charm FFI
        • Breadcrust
        • Coachman
        • Cock-y-Bundhu
        • Cooper Bug
        • Grizzly King
        • Ibis
        • Parmacheene Belle
        • Orange and Partridge Soft Hackle FFIFFI
        • Red Ass Soft Hackle
        • Tups Indespensible
    • Fly Patterns
    • RRTU Class Recipes
    • NC General Hatch Charts
    • Fly Shops, Outfitters and Guides
    • Fly Fishing >
      • RRTU Reference Fly Tying >
        • Entomology Basics
        • More Entomology Basics
      • More Fly Fishing Basics
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      • Trout Fishing & Trout Fishing Stories
    • Fly Casting
    • History, Reading, References >
      • S. Appalachian & Smoky Mtn History >
        • Archive History >
          • Archive History
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            • FORR 2020
    • Calendar Copy
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Picture
Amy's Ant
Fly of the Month 06.23 Amy’s Ant

Created, invented and originated by the fly fishing industry legend Jack Dennis on the Snake River system in Wyoming, Amy’s Ant won the Yellowstone Angler One Fly contest in 1999. Jack named this fly after his daughter Amy. A Jack Dennis classic, first designed for the Jackson Hole One Fly. It is anything but an actual ant imitation but does an excellent job of suggesting a cicada, hopper or stonefly while being durable, tough and reliably buoyant. Like most attractors, numerous effective color variations have evolved from the original, making it a very popular flies for trout.

Amy’s Ant

Amy’s Ant is a foam bodied fly pattern that you must have in your dry fly box.  Fish the larger version of this fly to match golden and nocturnal stones or as a searching pattern during terrestrial season. It is not a “guide fly” as it requires a solid set of tying skills and particular care with proportions and thread control. 

It is beautifully tied by combining 2 mm foam, Krystal Chenille, trimmed down hackle, lively rubber legs and elk hair topping a flashy underwing. Amy’s Ant is generic enough to roughly imitate a variety of food sources in the trout world. The elk-hair wing sits at an angle that ensures the fly lands upright every time and remains highly visible even in choppy water. The shape of the foam head tends to spread out the hair a bit to simulate the fluttering wings of an insect in trouble. It has a two-toned foam body, two sets over rubber legs, and an elk hair wing wing with plenty of rainbow Krystal Flash underneath. 

No one knows why, but the Amy’s Ant fly simply makes fish lose their inhibitions! The trimmed hackle palmered through the shiny Krystal Chenille body sets this fly low on the surface, while the double-layer foam overbody allows for a built-in life preserver to keep it on top even after repeated assaults. A splash of multicolored flash as an underwing adds fish attracting-sparkle and movement.

“Jack Dennis has a fairly complicated storyline regarding this fly, and its inception at the hands of his wife and then soon-to-be Vice President Dick Cheney. It seems the two were paired up as a team in the Jackson Hole One Fly event, and they conspired to get Jack to design a fly for them. Jack mashed up his original Amy’s Stone pattern with a Chernobyl Ant and a couple other Western patterns he had taken a liking to, and the result is what you see here.

The Dennis/Cheney team came in fourth using this fly, but the first- as well as last-place teams used it as well! Cheney was later interviewed during a fishing segment for an outdoor television show. When asked what his favorite fly was, he named Amy’s Ant.

Dennis immediately imagined the money rolling in from such a high-profile endorsement, and was excited to see the broadcast, but that just happened to be the week of 9/11, and the episode was never shown. Despite all that, Amy’s Ant became hugely popular and is Dennis’s most popular and best-selling pattern. That’s endorsement enough.”    - Charlie Craven

When and How To Fish Amy’s Ant

Amy’s Ant is typically fished on a stout 0X to 3X leader, most often with a beadhead dropper riding along underneath. When fished close to the bank as a single fly, Amy’s Ant fools some of the pickiest fish into a strike. It’s an adaptable summertime dry fly that imitates a variety of insects and acts as a simple attractor when desired. It is both a great trout fly and a great bass fly.

You can fish the Amy’s Ant like any large terrestrial, except use it year round, with the following techniques:
Float it under and near overhanging vegetation on stream, in ponds, lakes and reservoirs
Float it right past the eddy line below riffles and constrictions in the river
Skate it over the surface at night to attract larger fish, like you would a mouse pattern
Use a dropper fly with it, such as an emerger, soft hackle, or nymph
When using Amy’s Ant, be ready for quick, aggressive and very hard strikes!

Fly of the Month 06.23

Fly Name: Amy's Ant
Hook: Tiemco 5262 or 5263
Size: 6, 8, 10, 12
Thread: Brown or tan 3/0 Monocord.

Underbody: 2mm tan Fly Foam.
Overbody: 2mm Tan, Rust, Brown,or purple Fly Foam.
Legs: Medium brown round rubber legs
Hackle: Brown rooster neck or saddle, trimmed short
Body: Olive Krystal Chenille
Underwing: Rainbow Krystal Flash

Overwing: Cow or yearling elk hair
Thorax: Bronze Arizona Synthetic Peacock dubbing
Difficulty: Intermediate, requires a range of skills and several different materials.




- Tom Adams, Alen Baker   

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