Terrestrial · Trout · Grayling · Intermediate · 1 version
Classic Recipe
Hook Standard dry-fly hook, e.g. Tiemco 100 (1X-fine, wide gap), #12-18 (a #14 is the sweet spot)
Thread Black 70 denier / 8-0 (UTC 70)
Materials
Hook Tiemco 100 dry-fly hook, #12-18 (1)
Thread Black UTC 70 denier (1 spool)
Body & legs Black deer belly hair (a small clump, ~15-20 hairs) (1 small clump)
How to tie it
Start the black thread at the 60% point (about two-thirds of the way toward the eye) and lay a short thread base.
Cut, clean, and stack a small clump of black deer belly hair (about the thickness of a wooden matchstick). You will use the whole clump for the entire fly, so keep it modest.
Lay the clump along the top of the shank with the tips pointing forward over the eye, hair butts to the rear. Bind it down at the 60% point with two soft turns, then two firm turns, letting it flare slightly around the shank.
Pull the whole clump back over the hook so the tips now point rearward past the bend, forming the fat rear ant segment (the gaster). Take 3-4 tight thread wraps right at the 60% point to lock the segment and create the pinched 'waist' of the ant. This waist is the key trigger, so make it distinct.
You now have hair tips sticking out to the sides at the waist. Sweep 2-3 hairs to each side and take a couple of thread wraps to splay them out as the six legs, then trim these leg hairs to about one hook-gap long.
Fold the remaining forward-pointing hair back again to build the front head segment, bind at the eye, and trim the excess butts. Whip-finish behind the eye. The finished fly is two black bulbs joined by a thin waist, with a few splayed leg hairs in the middle.