Weather also plays an important role in the destiny of ants. A sudden cold snap will kill untold millions and wind and rain can beat them to the earth or drive them to inhospitable environs. Ant swarms often get trapped in these thermal upwellings and become food for winter starved trout many dozens of miles away. The majority of ant swarms occur during the first truly hot days of summer. Coincidentally, this is also the time termites are in flight.
Ants typically swarm during the day and termites at dusk.
The absolute best waters for anting are those bordered by dead trees. Beavers and the Army Corp of engineers are notorious for drowning stands of trees and creating ant factories adjacent to hungry trout. Trout are so used to eating ants that they willingly consume them all season long. Trout go crazy over ants but seldom seem greatly impressed with ant patterns. Ant patterns that look cool in the flybox rarely work as well as they seem like they should.