Big, buggy and floats like a cork! Just how we like our big terrestrials.

The origins of the Chernobyl Ant can be traced back to Utah’s Green River.In an article for American Angler, Scott Sanchez claims the fly was createdby a group of guides in 1990. The crew was attempting to make a pattern toimitate the river’s big black crickets.

Sanchez recalls a story he heard from one of the Green River guidesinvolved, Greg Gaddis, in which the guides were together one night,crushing a few too many beers and swapping stories from the water. Onemember of the group, Allan Woolley, had recently added rubber legs to thepattern the group had been working on. When asked what the name of hisnew variation would be, Woolley responded, It doesn’t need a fancy name.It’s just a damn ant.

One of the other guides, Mark Bennion quickly replied, But it’s a f******Chernobyl Ant!

The moniker stuck immediately. And just like that, the Chernobyl Ant hadearned its name.

Those Green River guides were really onto something – this fly is somethingspecial. The Chernobyl Ant is a big, gaudy terrestrial that is highly visible toboth angler and fish. The visibility on this fly is especially impressiveconsidering how low it rides in the water.

The Chernobyl Ant is a perfect example of a dinner bell fly. If you haventheard the expression, ringing the dinner bell refers to slapping the surfaceof the water with a big dry fly to get the attention of trout in the area. Thegoal is to get the fish to come investigate the fly and then either eat it, orcatch sight of a more natural dropper suspended below the surface.

Use this pattern to imitate grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas, beetles, and anyother oversized crunchy critter that might take an unintentional swim duringthe summer months.