Spring has sprung, and the terrestrial insects that trout and other game fish eat are well into their lifecycles that will end by the frosts that herald winter's return.  Foremost among these bugs are ants, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, bees, and inchworms.  Most major mayfly hatches will be over by early summer, and in the eastern half of the US, aquatic insects become less important, while terrestrial insects grow larger and more tempting.

 I enjoy fishing terrestrials, because fish seem to love them.  Take five minutes to look around the banks of your favorite stream.  You will invariably see ants and beetles of various sizes and colors. You may trigger a few grasshoppers as you approach the water, and if you're quiet, you will probably hear crickets.  Bees are always buzzing around the flowers. Inchworms and other caterpillars may also be present.

 A well-prepared fly fisher carries a terrestrial box.  These flies are great for prospecting.  I use foam ants, black and brown, in a variety of sizes, from spring through fall. They float well, and the bodies are sold with a painted white head that makes the fly easier to spot on the water.  I also tie fur ants, ants with parachute posts, and winged flying ants.  Sometimes, when swarming ants are on the wing, trout will only take flying ants, and refuse all other flies.  When inchworms, i.e. green oak worms, are present around a stream, a good imitation will take many trout.  I like the green weenie for this situation, and I usually fish it as a nymph, weighted with split shot under a strike indicator.  The green weenie is also an excellent prospecting fly even when no inchworms are evident.  Sometimes, however, a floating deer hair inchworm imitation, with ribbing to simulate segmentation, will be the ticket.

 I like foam beetles with a dot of bright fluorescent paint on the back, for easy spotting.  The pre-painted foam beetle bodies are available at fly shops, as are kits for tying Chernobyl ants. I generally consider a big Chernobyl ant to be a western fly, but it can be good for smallmouth bass in our region as well.  Foam terrestrial imitations like Chernobyl ants and beetles are great for two-fly rigs.  Attach the smaller fly, like an ant, a nymph, a midge, or a tiny blue wing olive dun, to an appropriate length and size of tippet material tied to the bend of the point fly's hook. The foam terrestrial may catch a fish or draw a strike, and it acts as a strike detector for the trailing fly.  When a fish reveals itself by splashing at an attractor fly, you should be able to catch it eventually, even though you may have to make repeated casts and change flies to succeed.  Try the beetle-ant combo rig on woodland pocket water, like the Rapidan and Big Hunting Creek, when there is no mayfly, caddis, or stonefly action.  It can also out-fish a nymph on the Yellow Breeches, especially later in the warm season, when delivered delicately against the brushy banks.  

 Grasshoppers and crickets (and cicadas) present a special case.  No subtlety is needed to fish them correctly.  When it is peak season for these tasty morsels, you can slap a size 10 hopper or cricket on the water, and I have seen the most wary old trout turn and strike instinctively at the sound, just like that.  There are many good hopper and cricket patterns, many with trimmed deer hair heads and foam components that give good floatation.  It takes practice to spin deer hair or foam, and cut these materials in a shape that imitates the natural insect.  For this reason, I usually buy hopper and cricket flies, even though I am a good tier, and make most of my own flies.

These are two easy-to-tie terrestrial flies, and they catch fish.  The efficacy of ants is well known, despite their virtual invisibility to the angler.  As discussed below, adding features to make the fly easier to spot can be the ticket to successful ant fishing. I was skeptical about the green weenie until a June trip two years ago with PA guide Don Bastian on the Little Juniata.  It was tough fishing during the bright afternoons, and the green weenie saved the day for me.  The key to tying a good green weenie is using very fine chenille for the body material. 

The Fur Ant

          Hook:  size 12-18 dry fly style

        Body:  dubbing spun in the shape of an ant--a larger, oval-shaped abdomen, a narrow thorax with only tying thread, and a smaller, rounder head next to the eye

        Hackle: one or two sparse turns of a small hackle attached at the thorax to match the dubbing; the hackle may be tied parachute style when using a post for visibility

        Optional Wing or Post: small hackle tips or bright polyester for visibility

 
Tie the fur ant in a cinnamon color on a size 18 hook, and in black on a size 14 or size 12 hook.  I also like a size 16 ant tied in bright fluorescent orange, which I first saw at Cold Spring Anglers in Carlisle, PA.  All ants are tied in the same basic manner: a larger ball--more like a teardrop shape--of fur dubbing for the abdomen, a sparse two or three turns of a small hackle at the thorax, and a smaller, rounder ball of dubbing for the head.  It should look like an ant.  An ant fly is hard to follow in the water. Tom Baltz of Carlisle, PA ties ants in his ICSI ("I can see it") style with short posts of bright chartreuse and orange polyester material.  These ICSI flies make it easier to see your ant. 

 
        Hook: 2X long hook, size 12 or 14

        Body: fine chartreuse chenille body, tightly wound, showing the kind of segmentation seen on an inchworm

        Optional: black or gold bead head, thread or short hackle to emphasize segmentation.

Good fishing!

TU Conservation & Fishing Camp

    Building on its very successful first year in 2005, the TU Conservation & Fishing Camp for high school students is actively recruiting young men and women to attend its June 25 – 30, 2006, session to be held again at Graves’ Mountain Lodge in Syria, Virginia.  The Camp offers an exciting week of hands-on, action packed fun for high school students in the Lodge’s beautiful mountain stream environment adjacent to Shenandoah National Park.  Interested Campers will gain the knowledge and skills that will help them become responsible and successful anglers, and informed and motivated conservationists.

    The Camp is a joint effort of the Trout Unlimited state councils and local chapters of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and DC. 

    If you know an interested student currently in the 8th through 11th grade, or have contacts with youth groups, we need your help to encourage youths who would benefit from this experience to apply to attend the Camp.  Information about the Camp, including how to apply to attend, is available at www.tucamp.org.  Camper slots are filling up fast.  Apply soon to attend the 2006 Camp.  The all-inclusive fee to attend the six-day, five-night Camp is $450.  All needed equipment and gear is furnished to campers who do not have their own, and partial and full scholarships are available for campers who need financial assistance to be able to attend.

    The Camp also is seeking financial donations, and volunteers to help with advance planning and organizing, as well as on-site staff during the Camp.  We especially need ghillies to assist the campers when they go fishing.  For additional information, to make a donation, or to volunteer to help, contact George Gaines at gwgaines@earthlink.net or (202) 363-0437, or Paul Kearney at pkearney@crosslink.net or (540) 229-0563.

NCC-TU Chapter Assessment

    When you pay your annual dues to National Trout Unlimited (TU), you automatically pay your annual dues to be a member of a local TU chapter.  However, the income that the National Capital Chapter receives from National TU memberships does not cover the total costs of operating the chapter.  Therefore, we annually assess our members $15 to provide the funds necessary to operate our chapter, and to enhance angling experiences for our members.  We need your annual assessment for 2005-2006, which was due September 15, 2005.

    While the Chapter operates solely with volunteers, the other key ingredient is obtaining adequate funding support.  Annual assessments enable us to communicate through our Website, www.ncc-tu.org, distribute Riffles our electronic chapter newsletter, and by email notices.  Assessment fees help to cover the rising costs of offering monthly programs on fishing adventures and techniques, and on stream conservation.  They enable us to develop and provide fly fishing and fly tying classes, to offer conservation and fishing education programs for youth, and to organize outings to local hot fishing spots.  Your assessments provide seed funds for our major annual fundraiser, the National Capital Angling Show, and they enhance our conservation and education grant-making capability.

    Last year, we made over $8,000 in grants to such organizations as the Beaver Creek (MD) Watershed Association, the Anacostia (MD-DC) Watershed Society, TU Back the Brookie Campaign, the Whirling Disease Foundation, and the Falling Spring (PA) Greenway.  We supported the founding of the TU Conservation and Fishing Camp (VA-MD-DC-WV, see www.tucamp.org), and sponsored two area youth for a week at the camp during its first summer.

    Your $15 assessment for Chapter year 2005-2006 was due September 15, 2005.  Please mail the form below with a check payable to “NCC-TU” to:

National Capital Chapter of Trout Unlimited
P.O. Box 42291
Washington DC 20015-0891

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NATIONAL CAPITAL CHAPTER of TROUT UNLIMITED
Annual Assessment Invoice, 2005-2006 Year

Please provide the following information to insure proper credit for your payment:

Name _______________________________________________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________________________________________

City _________________________________ State ______________ Zipcode _____________________

NCC-TU communicates by email.  Please provide your preferred email address:  _______________________