Encounters: The Special Red Ant

Sometimes it's better to try something old, rather than something new.

Back in the early '90s I worked as the caretaker of a private fishing club on the South Platte River near Deckers, Colorado.

No, it wasn't the Wigwam Club.

Yes, it was a nice gig for a fly fisher/tyer.  For a while, anyway, but that's another story.

Anyway, in the first couple weeks I spent a lot of time getting acquainted with the club and its members.  One afternoon a member and his wife came by for introductions.  They ended the visit by inviting me over for dinner.

I showed up at the appointed time.  We talked over dinner.  He was a legacy member.  His father had been a founding member of the club, back in the '40s.  After the history, we got into fishing.  I asked what patterns he liked and he said he used two flies.  A size 12 Ginger Quill dry fly and a "Special Red Ant".  The ant was a pattern his father had dreamt up back in the 40's and those two flies were all he ever fished.

He got up and left the room and came back with with his rig.  It looked like the rod had been a 9', 3 pc Phillipson that the tip had been broken off of and repaired using a spinning tip top.  He had an old, really old, Perrine Model 81 automatic fly reel on it, loaded up with what looked like 50#-test Dacron trolling line. To that line was attached a home-made leader with two flies.  One was the size 12 Ginger Quill and at the tip was this ratty, old-school,  hardshell ant wet fly in about a size 8.  Black and red with brown hackle.  He explained this was the rig his father taught him to fish with, and it was all he'd ever fished with.  Quaint enough, I thought, but couldn't really see this set up working at all.  There was still a Phillipson rodmaker in Denver who could have replaced the rod tip.  The Dacron wouldn't cast for shit, even on a decent rod and flies that big were never used for these waters.

I didn't push it, and soon enough it was time to go home.

The next evening I was making rounds and saw the same member was out fishing.  Watching from a distance, it was, I must say, the strangest, most awkward looking scene.  Using the same rig I saw the night before, he would lob the line out over the river in a high, long, arching cast. He would let the line drift straight down, then pick up the line for another lob.  I thought, no way that would work.  No way.  I watched this for several minutes.  Suddenly he was into a decent fish, played and released it.  Lucky maybe?  No.  I watched for another 20 minutes and he caught 3 more fish.

He came by to use the phone the next day and I mentioned that I had been watching him fish the night before and was curious about what fly he was using.  He smiled and said the it was the Special Red Ant.

You can't argue with success.

I sat down and tied 3 of my own in size 10. I couldn't bear to go any bigger.  The next evening after work, I went down to the river and tried the fly.  The first fish broke off on the strike.  It hit the fly like a freight train and I had the rod tip pointed right right at the fly.  I tied on another one, and a few casts later, it too, got broken off for the same reason.  I wasn't used to South Platte Trout hitting a fly so hard.  For the last fly, I decided to not point the rod, but hold it so when a fish struck it the rod's flex could absorb the shock.  This worked and I was able to land three fish before the last fly broke off.

Talk about fun?

I was amazed.  The Special Red Ant blew every notion I held about the Platte clean out of the water.  Common wisdom dictated small flies - usually no larger than a size 16.  I was familiar with these old ant patterns.  They were common enough back in the '60s and before, but nobody, and I mean nobody, used them any more.  But here I was, using a pattern that dated back to the '40s, catching fish like crazy with it, and having a ball.  Initially I was convinced that there was no way that fly would work and had I not happened to watch that member catch 4 nice fish with it in a half hour, I would have never considered using it.  It wasn't a one shot deal.  The fly has been a consistent producer.  It has become one of my go-to patterns for the South Platte as well as other spots.

One of things I like about this pattern is that it's so damned easy to fish. I use an old school method called a "Leisenring Lift".  I typically present the fly by casting across the stream with an upstream reach.  This allows the fly to drift with minimal drag and to sink quickly.  I position myself so the fly will reach the spot I figure the fish will be in when the line starts to belly out and starts to pull the sunken fly back towards the surface.  This is usually where the fish take the fly and they take it hard.  It's a simple, relaxed, and effective way to fish.

Just because a pattern is really old, doesn't mean it doesn't catch fish.  Just because a pattern doesn't conform to common wisdom, doesn't mean it won't work.  Sometimes it's better to try something old, rather than something new.

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