Most Southern anglers head out West to take advantage of the bounty of the Rocky Mountain summer neglecting our local Georgia waters. Some may think terrestrial fishing is a bust here in the East, but remember the trout has to eat. Black ants come in all sizes and colors, so imitating an ant big or small can amaze. If you can hear the odd audible rise on the stream and maybe get a glimpse of a surface bubble near the rise form, you’re in business.
Remember that land-based or terrestrial insects float initially, then they drown. Suspended terrestrial insects are now subsurface within the water column. Both dry or surface and subsurface or nymph patterns are deadly, and even a combo rig is often productive even without visible rise forms.
Ants, beetles and grasshoppers make up the majority of land based bugs, but crickets, inch worms and caterpillars can round out the terrestrial menu. We mostly nymph fish on the Chattahoochee but keep a lighter dry fly rod rigged with an ant or a beetle for head-hunting visible or audible rising fish.