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Ant pattern

4K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  Ron McNeal 
#1 ·
Ant pattern
Anyone know how to tie an ant pattern that has perfectly round foam rubber for the head and abdomen. I have no idea how to make the foam perfectly round. Thanks
 
#3 ·
I got this idea from a flyfishing magazine long, long ago. You can, of course, just use black, plastic dumbbell eyes but they won't float all that great.

You need to find the Styrofoam beads that they use in bean bag chairs... most likely a fabric store carries them... I don't remember where I got mine.

You also need 20 lb, stiff mono, a burning tool (I use a Burning Point but a soldering iron will work), and oil based, black paint (I found a Sharpie oil based marking pen works well).

Slide the mono through the beads (sometimes you'll need a sewing needle to start the holes). Cut the mono and burn each end to keep the beads from sliding off (a drop of Super Glue at each end isn't a bad idea). Then paint the white beads with the black marker... you CAN NOT use spray paint because it will melt the Styrofoam.

That's about it.

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#6 ·
#7 ·
Norm, the process sure looks good to me but do the glass beads have a tendency to sink? When I first tying flies we used poly yarn to form the front and rear section of the body and they worked fine... but I had to use a lot of floatant. I ended up making some McMurray Ants with balsa wood and they never sank.

The Styrafoam jobs came later and while they float as well as the balsa wood, they don't last long once the trout started chewing on them.

Nowadays.... I use the preformed closed cell foam bodies.... but to tell you the truth, the ugly McMurray Ants are still the best for floating and durability.
 
#8 ·
not all ants need to float. fish take sunken ants. no problem

i have no idea what a plastic/glass seed bead would weigh. as you can ee not every bead is the same size as another.
 
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