Mike [Telford] developed this fly to imitate the large carpenter ants
found in the riparian habitat of the small Sierra Nevada streams and
lakes. He designed it to be durable, highly visible, and to float
forever.
The Para-Ant is fished primarily as a searching pattern because
it is a good source trout often see on a regular basis. We
really like the design and how well it floats. It has gained
a permanent spot in our terrestrial fly box.
Materials list: The Spent Wing Para-Ant
Hook: Size 14-20, dry fly.
Thread: Black.
Body: Black foam and dubbing.
Post: Orange poly yarn.
Hackle: Grizzly.
Method: The Spent Wing Para-Ant
Step 1: Place the hook in the vise and apply a thread base
that covers the back half of the shank. Use a straight edge
and razor blade to cut a strip of foam about as wide as the
hook gape. Tie it to the end of the hook shank and trim off
the waste end. Cover this tie-down point with black dubbing
leaving the thread at the center of the hook.Step 2: Pull the foam strip over and bind it to the center
of the shank slightly forward of the hook point. Pulling
slightly on the foam while tying it down produces a more
rounded segment.Step 3: Pull the foam strip up, advance the thread a couple
of turns, and cover them with a bit of dubbing. Bring the
foam back to the hook shank and bind it to the hook. Again
a more rounded profile will result if the strip is tied to
the shank while under tension.Step 4: Cut the tag end of foam in half. Tie the poly yarn
to the hook at the 1/3 point on the shank, stand it up, and
wrap a parachute platform. Prepare a grizzly hackle feather
by removing the fuzzy material at the base of the stem, tie
it to the hook in front of the post, and bind it to the
parachute platform. Trim the waste end and leave the thread
just behind the hook eye.Step 5: Pull the split foam sections around each side of the
post/feather and bind them to the hook at the eye. Tie them
down under tension to make this last segment smaller than the
first. Do not cut the waste ends. Wrap the hackle parachute
style and tie it off on top of the foam. Whip finish and trim
the thread from the hook.Step 6: Stretch each foam tag and cut it from the hook as close
to the tie-down point as possible. Use the tips of a pair of
sharp scissors to cut off the hackle fibers to the front and
rear of the post, leaving a spent wing. Apply a coat of Aqua
Head to finish the fly. ~ Al & Gretchen Beatty
Credit: If you haven’t picked up Innovative Flies And
Techniques for your home library you’ve missed a terrific
book with just tons of information. You would not learn everything
in this book in a lifetime on your own. Al and Gretchen Beatty
have done an outstanding job on Innovative Flies And
Techniques, don’t miss out. ~ DLB
For more great flies, check out: and
Originally published August 6, 2007 on Fly Anglers Online by Mike Telford.