"I designed my Last Gasp Ant with several criteria that were critical in the effectiveness of this pattern.
The hook needed to be an emerger style so that the abdomen and thorax would set below the film of the water.
The idea was to make this ant appear to be drowning. The TMC 212TR was the perfect hook.
The next part of the design was that it looked realistic.
I tie the Last Gasp Ant in two colors, black and rust. By using black and rust thread I can build a tapered abdomen and thorax and cover it with Solarez Bone Dry UV Resin.
This did three things, it built up the size of the abdomen and thorax, made it smooth and gave it the shine that was necessary to make this pattern look like the natural.
The Last Gasp Ant was designed as a dry fly so it was important that top portion of the fly would float on top of the film of the water and that the abdomen and the thorax would be in the film.
To support this pattern, I decided to tie it with a parachute which appears to be the wing of the ant and the post makes it visible to the fly fisher.
When I fished it, my Last Gasp Ant performed just as it had been designed. Most importantly is that it caught fish in good numbers which is the goal of all designed flies."
- Signature Tyer Phil Iwane
