Marabou

Tying Instructions: Parachute Ant




	1. Lay a thread foundation covering the shank from the 1/3 position behind the eye to the bend of the hook.
	2. Apply the dubbing to the thread. Angora Goat has long fibers, so I'll lock a few of them with the thread against the shank and twist the fibers around the thread to create a loose rope.
	3. Dub a rear abdominal segment covering about 1/3 the shank length. The segment should look like a hairy football.
	4. Even up the tips of a clump of calf body hair.
	5. Measure the wingpost to be about the length as the hook shank.
	6. Attach the clump on the top of the shank at the midpoint of the front thoracic segment. The post should be about the same length as the shank.
	7. Trim the butts of the calf hair and secure with thread wraps.
	8. Secure the butt ends of the calf hair with tight thread wraps to the base of the first segment.
	9. Stand the post up with a few thread wraps.
	10. Wrap around the the base of the post to prepare it for the hackle.
	11. I find it easier to have the wingpost horizontal when wrapping the thread. Wrap the base so that it is just above the height of the dubbed body segment.
	12. Size a hackle to the hook and remove the basal fibers to give you a clean quill stem. Tie in the hackle to the side of the shank in front of the wingpost and wrap the stem up the post to where your first hackle wrap will start and then wrap the thread back down to the bottom of the post.
	13. Dub the thread tightly.
	5. Wrap in front and in back of the post to form the front thoracic bulge of the ant. You should have left enough space so that there is a small space between the front and rear segments to form the segmented ant shape. Don't let the front segment get larger than the rear segment.
	15. Wrap the hackle around the post several times and tie off. Do not overdo the parachute hackle. It's ok if the ant sinks into the film as long as you can see the white post. Again, I like to do this with the wingpost horizontal. A few wraps between the hackle and the tag end will lock the hackle.
	16. Clip off the tag end.
	17. Whip finish around the base of the hackle taking care to not trap any fibers.
	18. The finished Parachute Ant. Also known as a Fur Ant with no synthetic materials.