Joe Hyde's Other People's Flies article
Great job with the Improved McGinty, Joe. Nice catch you got there :D. Specks, Bluegill, and even a Shellcracker. Now I just know you had a ball. Great article. Thanks. That fly has my confidence. It does happen but its rare when I don't get a bite on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Hyde
If my Bulletin Board memory serves, Robert McCorquodale�s "drift past the grass" presentation is a tactic he employs during off-spawn months, such as early morning or late afternoon low-light periods during summer when crappie sneak in close to prowl weedy and grassy borders in hopes of picking off careless insects.
Yep. That's basically what I do. Within about three feet (that magical three foot zone) off the weeds along the shoreline works great from a watercraft. I even cast directly from shore when bank fishing with good luck. Its a good fly for shallow or suspending fish, both Specks and bream (occasional bass too). Yes I use these tactics for Specks during the off-spawn months (usually about the second day after a cold front) early morning or late afternoon low-light periods but not during summer. During fall and winter when the water is cold and they are in close to shore chasing minnows or insects. I don't fish much during summer because the fish don't bite well when its really hot. I fish the fly very slowly after letting it drop and it drops slowly being unweighted. So I can count down the drop depth. I retrieve the fly with slow start and stop strips of the line if they haven't bitten it already on the drop. I typically use a 2x (6lb.) tippet of standard Berkley tippet material but a fluorocarbon tippet is handy when the wind or current doesn't push the fly and tippet under so I sometimes use the same tippet size but with Seaguar fluorocarbon. I use the heavier tippet due to the occasional LMB so I have a better chance of getting the bass in than on a lighter tippet and the Specks and bream don't seem to be leader shy with the 2x so far (I may have to go lighter if that becomes the case). If the fish are deeper I may switch to a Crappie Candy to get the fly deeper quicker and if they are really deep, I use a slow full sink fly line on my spare reel spool with the Crappie Candy. Imagine what the Improved McGinty might do on bedding Specks during the spawn :).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Hyde
Wouldn�t it be funny if the McGinty is a fly that ONLY works when it�s presented in close proximity to shoreline weeds or grass? I say this because of what happened three days after this eight crappie trip.
It doesn't ONLY work for me just in close to the shoreline weeds or grass. I've used it in deeper water. Even slow fishing it from the bottom but of course it would probably be better if it was weighted in this case.
