The Deadly MacIntosh Dry Fly by Bill Carpan, 2004

Sometime in the 1930’s the MacIntosh dry fly was first used for Atlantic salmon on the Nova Scotia’s St. Mary’s River. It is generally considered to be the invention of St. Mary’s guide Dan MacIntosh. Certainly it was Dan’s success using the fly that made it very popular.

Since its illustrious past, the MacIntosh fly has multiplied and prospered. Dozens of salmon dry fly patterns have evolved from the original MacIntosh, all with the same style: bushy hackle, flat hair wing, and sparse body – dressed on a light weight hook so as to float when required. I say “when required”, because Nova Scotia’s St. Mary’s River anglers often fish it wet or dry, as required.

All of Nova Scotia’s rivers are public water. To handle fishing pressure, a rotation system gives everyone equal time on crowded pools. Everyone gets a turn to fish a pool from top to bottom, moving along with each cast. If an angler raises a salmon, he may work the fish with a few casts and change flies if he wishes, one change only, so as not to unduly hold up the process. If the pool is too short to comfortably accommodate all anglers present, those waiting to fish sit on the river bank (bankers) resting, watching the action, telling yarns and so on. The system works quite well as long as no one hogs the pool, and a pool hog usually gets heckled into moving by the bankers. Some bankers just come for the entertainment or news and don’t even fish.

The MacIntosh offers a great advantage when an angler can’t be holding up fishermen on a busy pool by changing flies, because it can be fished effectively both wet and dry. If an angler earns the right to change his fly by raising a fish, he’s learned which type of fly he should try next. The fly not only locates a fish, but also indicates his preference for wet or dry fly, a huge advantage for the angler on a busy pool. Some anglers even claim that they carry only two flies, both MacIntoshes, one to fish with and one in case they lose it.

A lone St. Mary’s angler was searching for a lost fly when another angler stepped out of the bushes onto the remote pool’s gravel shingle. “You wouldn’t have a spare fly would you? I lost mine.” said the first to the newcomer.

The preferred method of fishing the MacIntosh, wet or dry, is quartering downstream. For a dry fly, this is apparently unusual. Most trout anglers are schooled in fishing the dry fly upstream. St. Mary’s Atlantic salmon anglers prefer the downstream approach. Cast on a slack line downstream, it is much easier to achieve a long, drag free float which shows the fly to the fish before the leader, and which permits pulling the dry fly underwater at the end of its drift, the instant when it is often taken by a following fish.

Although the MacIntosh is popular mainly in NS, MacIntosh variations have been steadily gaining converts in the other Atlantic Provinces over the years. Some of the most popular MacIntosh patterns are shown in the table at the end of this article.

Favorites on the St. Mary’s are the White Hackle Dry, Pink Lady MacIntosh, Golden MacIntosh, and Ginger Hackle Dry. The subdued Badger Hackle Dry in small sizes has also saved the day for me on the St. Mary’s when brightly coloured flies have failed. The Orange Blossom Dry works amazingly well on peat-stained waters such as Gold River, Liscomb River, or the Cheticamp River, but not on the St. Mary’s or the Lahave River, where I was once ridiculed by the bankers for trying it.

Sometime in the sixties a brilliant MacIntosh pattern enjoyed popularity for a time. The fly was named the Gorgeous George after the flamboyant wrestler, a bad guy in the ring with long blond curly hair, a novelty in those days. One story has it that St. Mary’s guide the late Hal Horton created the fly. Hal was a quiet, kind and generous man who was well liked on the river. Another story is that the fly was created by a city boy who always travelled with a gun under his seat.

Lightweight hooks are used for the MacIntosh family of flies, such as Mustad 90240 or Partridge Wilson Dry Fly in sizes 1 – 8, or Mustad 94840 or 94833 in smaller sizes 6 – 14. Thread is red or black, such as Uni-thread 8/0. Many tiers like to increase the hook gap with pliers before tying the fly. Hooks can also be sharpened at this time and the hook barb can be pressed flat with pliers if planning to fish barbless, which I recommend, especially if you will be releasing fish. Any hook modification is best done before tying the fly, just in case the hook breaks.

Body material can be thread, dubbed fur, floss, wool or synthetic material. My favourite is Phentex yarn, which is inexpensive, readily available in many colors, and floats on water. Daylight fluorescent Uni-stretch makes a light, colorful body on small sizes. Bodies may be embellished with tinsel, such as silver or gold flat mylar tinsel. I prefer mylar to metallic tinsels for a dry fly so as to minimize weight.

Whatever is used for the body, it should occupy only the rear half to the hook shank, leaving the front half for wing, hackle and head. The body should be slim, so as not to force the angle of the wing upward. The MacIntosh wing is tied flat over the body. Remember that the fly should float sitting on its hackle and wing tips. If the wing is too short, the fly may land on its head with the wing straight up, which looks really dumb. It is important that the wing base be wrapped with thread from the tie in point (immediately ahead of the body) to a point immediately behind the head position, leaving enough space and a smooth base upon which to wrap the hackle.

Hackles should be tied in by their base (not tip), and the bright side of the hackle feathers should face the eye of the hook. Tying them backwards can make the fly spin when it is being cast and fished, resulting in a twisted leader tippet and, heaven forbid, a possible bird’s nest on the end of the line.

I like to use two saddle hackles on all except the small hook sizes, winding one first and the second through the first, stopping at the point where the wing base ends and where the head begins. Many anglers feel that hackle is the most important part of the MacIntosh, the part that is most visible to a fish looking up at the fly. Looking at a MacIntosh held up toward the sun one can easily see the attraction - brightly colored hackle points sparkling in the sun. If this is true, body and wing color may not matter much to a fish, but may make the angler more feel confident, and a confident angler fishes better.

Some anglers prefer not to dress a MacIntosh with fly floatant if they plan to fish it wet or over-and-under. Some like it to float low on the water while some use more hackle and floatant to fish it high and dry. Danny MacIntosh, son of Dan MacIntosh, the fly’s creator, once told me that he dresses the fly lightly so that it floats low, like a log. He contends that this leads to fewer missed strikes because the low floating fly stays put rather than rolling aside as the fish pushes up the water beneath the fly.

Another St. Mary’s angler says that he always found that a MacIntosh fly works better after some use. This may be due to the backswept hackle that develops with use, or it may simply be that the angler lacks confidence using a new and unproven fly and, as a result, doesn’t fish as well. Let’s face it, we’re all superstitious to some degree and come to regard a very successful fly as having a certain hoodoo. One often hears an angler bemoan the loss of such a fly, doubting he or she will ever again be able to catch a fish.

I often use the MacIntosh as the first pattern to teach beginning fly tiers. They rarely let me down, tying a fishable fly first time. It is large, easy to tie, colorful, it looks great, and it works! But for such a simple fly, it is surprising how much practice is needed to tie a neat, well proportioned, and durable MacIntosh that fishes well under most conditions.

As far as fishing the fly, I’ve only hinted at the subtleties and variations, this being beyond the scope of this article. I do believe that an angler could fish it for a lifetime without learning all of its secrets.