Chernobyl Ant

Chernobyl Ant

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Tying Instructions

1. Mash down the barb and attach the hook to the vise. Attach the thread behind the eye in the 1/3 position of the shank.

2. Begin by laying a thread base on your hook, starting at the 1/4 positon behind the eye and progressing rearward to the bend of the hook.

3. I’m using a River Bend Foam cutter to make a clean uniform cut. If you want to just cut one from the sheet. Cut a piece of 2mm black fly foam approximately 3/8″ wide and 1.25″ long, trim the end of the foam with an elongated rounded cut.

4. Attach the piece at the bend of the hook with about 1/4 inch of foam extending beyond the bend. Secure the foam with tight wraps up to the shank directly above the hook point. This creates a 1/8″ wide area to secure the legs.

5. Attach two round rubber legs on each side of the shank where you secured the foam body. The length of the legs should be about 3/4 inch or 1.5 times the shank length of the hook.

6. Wrap the thread around the shank in front of the rear legs to the 1/4 position of the shank. Bring the foam over the shank and secure the foam.

7. Wrap another 1/8″ wide space to secure the second set of legs. Leave at least an eye length behind the eye.

8. Attach another set of legs on each side of the hook shank. Trim the black foam so that it only extends beyond the about 1/4 inch. Trim the corners of the foam to get a tapered shaped head.

9. Attach a piece of orange foam cut narrower than the body just above the front pair of legs. This will be your indicator. Now slip the thread under the head of the fly and tie off at the hook eye as on any other fly..

10. The last step is to whip finish behind the eye. Add a drop of head cement at each of the leg/body tie-ins on the bottom side of the hook. This will prevent twisting and generally add a lot of durability to the fly.

11. The finished Chernobyl Ant.

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	Tiemco 5262 #10-12
Thread	Uni thread Orange 8/0
Body	Black Fly Foam, 2mm
Legs	White Rubber Leg Material , Medium
Post	Yellow or Orange Fly Foam, 2mm

Mark Forslund

Chernobyl Ant

This fly was the winner of the 1995 Jackson Hole One Fly Contest. It was designed by Mark Forslund and Allan Woolley, guides on the Green River below Flaming Gorge, Utah. Originally, Mark tied a piece of black foam that was rounded on both ends and placed two oversized Black hackles in the front and middle portion of the body.

Black Mamba

Originally, a yellow-dyed calf tail wing was attached to the front segment but this was soon changed to a piece of yellow foam. He named it the Black Mamba. Allan replaced the hackles with two sets of rubber legs for better movement as it was designed as a Mormon Cricket imitation for cutthroats.

It’s Nuclear!

According to Mark Forslund, a pair of guide pals, Stu Handy, and Mark Bennion, were fishing together and Handy was really tormenting the trout using this pattern. When Bennion asked about the Mamba, Stu explained, “It’s a big black ant.” Bennion examined it and said, “That’s nuclear. It’s an ant directly from Chernobyl,” the nuclear power plant in Ukraine in the Soviet Union that melted down in 1986. Thus the pattern got a new name.

Chernobyl Ant

The high density foam gives the fly excellent floatation and the rubber legs give it life-like action. The original Chernobyl Ant would often fall on it’s side, so initially a parachute hackle was tied below the indicator. Later, this was resolved by using a dubbed body that would serve as ballast when wet and adding a second layer of foam.

Variations

Many variations are possible with this pattern using various colors of foam. Will Dornan added two major improvements to the pattern with a Poly wing and a large dubbed underbody in the late 1990’s. He named his variation, Willy’s Red Ant. The Poly wing gave the pattern a much better visability and the dubbed underbody kept the foam from twisting on the hook shank. When the dubbing is wet, it tends to act as ballast for a better presentation when cast. Chenille also works well as an underbody. Some found that if one wing works well, why not try two. So, you find some Chernobyl Ants with both a fore and aft wing.

Willy’s Red Ant won the 2001 Jackson Hole One Fly Contest, so colors have become ubiquitous with colors of golden stone, purple, salmonfly (rust brown), pink, peach, green, orange, UV tan, olive, and peacock variations available. Best time to use this fly is from Late Summer to Fall from August through November. It works well as a top dry fly with a dropper nymph. The larger sizes (#6-10) will represent stoneflies and hoppers.

Chernobyl Ant, Black/Orange

Hook	Tiemco 5262 #10-12
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Body	Black and Orange Foam, 2mm
Belly	Chocolate Brown Ice Dubbing
Legs	Black Round Rubberlegs, Medium
Post	Orange Foam, 2mm

Chernobyl Ant, Black/Tan

Hook	Tiemco 5262 #10-12
Thread	Unithread Tan 6/0
Body	Black and Tan Foam, 2mm
Belly	UV Tan Ice Dubbing
Legs	Black Round Rubberlegs, Medium
Post	Orange and Yellow Foam, 2mm

Willy’s Ant, Red

Hook	Tiemco 5263 #10-12
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Body	Black Fly Foam, 2mm
Belly	Red rabbit dubbing mixed with UV Red Ice Dub
Legs	Black Rubberlegs , Medium
Wing	White McFlylon