Insect Family Formicidae (Ants)

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Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, and Wasps)

» Family Formicidae (Ants)

Common Name

Match	Common Name
	Ants

Pictures Below ↓

Ants are one of the best-known terrestrial (Terrestrial: Insects which live on land and are fed on by trout only when they incidentally fall into the water are known as "terrestrials" to fly anglers, and they're very important in late summer.) food sources for trout. Wingless ants often stumble by accident into the water, making them a very common "occasional" item on the trout's menu. Imitations of these unlucky critters make excellent searching patterns (Searching pattern: Any artificial fly pattern used when trout that aren't feeding selectively on anything in particular. A searching pattern may be an attractor or an imitation of something specific that the fish might favor even though it's not currently hatching.) in mid- to late summer.

The real fun with ants, however, comes from the mating swarms of winged species. They are spotty and hard to predict, but when they happen to fall over the water they can draw more trout activity than all but the best hatches of huge mayflies.

Formicidae Fly Fishing Tips

Ant imitations are effective above and below the surface.

A heavy fall of ants will make trout extremely selective to their distinct form, and smoothly tapered mayfly imitations in the correct size and color are likely to be rejected on account of their shape.

Pictures of 10 Ant Specimens:

Specimen Page:12

Formicidae (Ants) Ant Adult

View 7 PicturesI collected this flying ant from the surface of a popular Catskill trout stream, where its species prompted steady rising from selective trout for several late-morning hours. It was mixed with smaller ants of a different color, and I photographed one of them too.

Collected September 5, 2006 from the Neversink River in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on October 3, 2006

Formicidae (Ants) Ant Adult

View 3 PicturesThis tiny size 24 flying ant was mixed with a larger variety (see this specimen) falling on the surface of a Catskill river. The trout seemed to respond well to ants of both sizes.

Collected September 5, 2006 from the Neversink River in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on October 3, 2006

Formicidae (Ants) Ant Adult

View 5 Pictures

Collected August 22, 2018 from Mystery Creek #227 in Montana
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 13, 2019

Specimen Page:12

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Jargon Defined:

Searching patterns: Any artificial fly pattern used when trout that aren't feeding selectively on anything in particular. A searching pattern may be an attractor or an imitation of something specific that the fish might favor even though it's not currently hatching.

Terrestrial: Insects which live on land and are fed on by trout only when they incidentally fall into the water are known as "terrestrials" to fly anglers, and they're very important in late summer.

Useful References:

Schwiebert, Ernest G. 1955. Matching the Hatch. MacMillan Publishing Company.

Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.