Wilson Ant

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Wilson Ant.

I haven’t tied a Ray Bergman fly recently, so I thought I’d pull out his book Trout (1938) and the Wilson Ant spoke to me.

You’ll find this fly on Plate No. 9, page 254.

I like the elegance and simplicity of a Ray Bergman wet fly.

I’ve selected several wet flies for my Throw Back Thursday Fly segment from Ray Bergman’s book . If you are a regular at RiverKeeper Flies, you recall Bergman’s book includes 15 colored plates to illustrate the dry and wet flies with a description of each fly in the back. It was the first book to provide color fly illustrations.

I’m not an expert about Ray Bergman, but I look to Don Bastian Wet Flies website whenever I need information or clarification. Don is a well known fly tyer, author, and speaker and has recreated the fly plates found in Trout. His flies are works of art! One of Bastian’s post entitled Ray Bergman – Some Clarification and Edification will provide additional history about Ray Bergman, if you are so inclined to learn more.

Here is the fly pattern recipe from the Full Description of Flies Shown in Color Plates in the final pages of Trout. The materials order is as listed in the book:

Wilson Ant

Note: The fly is tied on an older Mustad 3906 hook, size 10.

Enjoy…go fish!