I was pleased to read this WWFF article by Tom Keith because I have been using these two outstanding wet flies for years and they give me consistently good results. I am very confident when fishing either of these to two flies. The “Improved” part of the name on these flies to me just means that they are now soft hackles and easier to tie without the wing found on the original patterns. Hen hackle color seems to vary from tyer to tyer on the McGinty wet fly and I don’t think it really matters as much as retaining the original red hackle tail and yellow, black, yellow body. I think the original calls for Ginger Hen hackle that is kind of a rust color and matching white duck quill sections for the wing. I also don’t think that the lack of the original wing matters much because I’ve had good results despite other hackle colors and the lack of a wing. To me, the Black Gnat wet fly here is just an all black version of the McGinty :). I know there are other versions of this fly also but I like the one that is given in the article. Tom gives sizes 10 to 14 but I just use size 10 and sometimes 12.
Doggone it, Dixie – here I thought I was through buying flies for the year!
Thanks for pasting this nice article. Time now for another trip to the fly shop.
Thursday around noon (of all the times of day) I was catching crappies and bluegills in water only 18" deep. Most of the fish, I could see them pursuing Rick Z’s flies before the take. Totally nerve-racking.
dixieangler,
Thanks for posting about those flies. As soon as I read your post I sat down at my fly tying desk and tied up some. It is posts like yours that brings back flies I have read about long ago and meant to tie and try and never did. There are just so many flies and I keep reading about so many of them and think I can remember the ones I want to try and never do. My mind does not have the memory banks to store these thoughts like it use to, so, your post and others will bring back some of the flies I meant to tie and try.
I always keep some of each of these two wet flies on hand in my warmwater fly box. The McGinty wet and Black Gnat wet is just two of those flies I don’t want to be without. If I’m going to carry some wet flies, then these are the ones I make sure I have. Joe and Warren, you won’t be sorry using these two wet flies just remember to fish them slow with pauses.