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Terrestrial Imitations

Flying Ants:
It is impossible to predict the
time someone may encounter
flying ants. It is usually in the
summer but you could easily go
all summer and not see any. If
you do, you will wish you had a fly
that imitated these insects.
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Grasshoppers are plentiful in
some places in the park, but not
many. There are always some
species that can be found in the
forest, but we have never
encountered any heavy
concentration of them unless
there were lots of grass.
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Perfect Fly’s Brown
Carpenter Ant
Perfect Fly’s Black Ant

Terrestrial imitations are choice flies during the summer and fall seasons. Here are our suggestions for them:

Grasshoppers:
(modest abundance, isolated distribution)
Perfect Fly Sandwich Hopper 6, 8, 10, & 12
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Note: Don’t worry about the fly sinking somewhat in rough water. That is exactly what the real ones do. This is the best imitation of a grasshopper we have seen. You do not need the high floating foam bodied flies.

Crickets:
(modest abundance, isolated distribution)
JDS Kicker Cricket: 12, 14 & 16
Dave’s Cricket: 8 &12
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You would be hard pressed to find any place in the park that didn’t have plenty of ants. It is one of the most important species of terrestrials to imitate in our opinion.

Ants:
(abundant, widespread distribution)
Perfect Fly’s Black Ant:
14/16
Perfect Fly’s – Perfect Black Carpenter Ant
16/18
Perfect Fly’s – Perfect Brown Carpenter Ant
16/18
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Flying Ants:
(modest abundance, isolated distribution)
Perfect Fly’s – Perfect Brown Flying Ant
14 and 16
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Perfect Fly Japanese Beetle This is our most popular terrestrial fly. It is extremely popular for use in the streams of the Smokies as well as nationwide. It is a very realistic and effective imitation of one of the most common beetles. This is the American Express fly. Don’t leave home without it.

Beetles:
(very abundant, widespread distribution)
Perfect Fly’s – Perfect Japanese Beetle
14 and 16
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Inch Worms:
(very abundant, widespread distribution)
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Leaf Hooper:
(abundant, widespread distribution)
Green Leaf Hopper: 20

Copyright 2011 James Marsh

Cicadas are of the subfamily
Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide
transparent, veined wings. There
are about 2,500 species of cicada
around the world, and many remain
unclassified. Most cicadas go
through a life cycle that lasts from
two to five years. Some species
have much longer life cycles, such
as the North American genus,
Magicicada, which has a number of
either a 17-year or, in some parts of
the world , a 13-year life cycle. They
are eaten by birds, fish and other
animals. They usually emerge in
very large quantities and provide
plenty of food for fish of various
species. Our Perfect Fly Cicada
imitation work for bass, bream and
trout.
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