FLY OF THE MONTH

Jeff's "Big Mack"
By Jeff Pierce

The Big Mack is a super fly for large aquatic predators. It is at home in both fresh and saltwater. It is a great fly that has fooled everything from northern pike to marlin to king mackerel to mahi-mahi. It is a very versatile fly that can be tied in numerous color variations to imitate several different bait species. It can be tied as a tandem hook fly as described here, but it can also be tied with one hook. It all depends on the species targeted.

Tying instructions:

Step 2:
Cut an 8 inch piece of 90lb Seven Strand wire. Laying the wire along the shank of the hook, run about one inch of it down through the eye of the hook. Begin securing the wire to the top of the hook with several tight wraps.

The stinger hook can be closer for species that tend to attach the head of the fly like barracuda. Typically the eye of the stinger hook is 1 to 2 inches behind the bend of the main hook. Please keep in mind that I.G.F.A. Rules require that the stinger hook must be completely behind the front hook (eye of stinger and bend of main hook cannot overlap), but cannot extend out beyond the body of the fly. On this particular fly, the stinger spacing was 1.75 inches behind the main hook.

Once you have the spacing figured out, lay the wire down along the top of the 92568BLN and place 5 light wraps around the hook. Now, you need to adjust the wire so that the hooks are 180 degrees opposed. You do not want the stinger twisted to one side or another. Once you have its alignment right secure the wire with several tight wraps back to just before the bend of the hook.

Step 6:
Bend the tag end of the wire down and around so that the tag end runs along the underside of the shank. Cut the wire so that it stops about 1/8 of an inch short of the eye. Use the loose wraps/tight wraps again to keep the thread from being cut. Then secure the wire with several tight wraps and finish with a coating of Zap-a-Gap and whip finish.

Your tandem harness is done. Now . . . onto the fly.

Fishing Suggestions:

The method used in fishing this fly depends on the species you are targeting. It makes a great bait and switch fly for marlin and sailfish. When doing this you are typically using naked ballyhoo (without hooks) to get a fish up close to the boat. Once a fish has showed and is hungry the ballyhoo is reeled in close to the boat to bring the fish within casting range. Then in one quick motion the ballyhoo is yanked out of the water and the fly is placed by the fish. If done correctly with an excited billfish the fly is eaten pretty quickly. You may need to strip the fly or slap it on the water a few times if the fish is not aggressive.

When fishing for mahi-mahi this fly is an excellent choice. The smaller fish will aggressively attack it and the larger fish seldom ignore such a healthy meal. I fish the fly subsurface to start with. If that does not draw a strike you can slide a foam popper head down onto the eye and the fly now becomes a large, noisy surface bait. I use the EdgeWater 3/0 Boilermaker popper heads. Very few mahi-mahi have refused this offering. Typically, when fishing is sub-surface I try to lay out a long cast and strip the fly quickly back toward the boat. Mahi-mahi which seem disinterested will often "wake up" when you really get the fly moving. This fly is responsible for my pending Texas State Fly-Fishing Record Mahi-mahi, which I caught back in August of this year.

King Mackerel find this fly irresistible as well. I had great success with this fly off the south Texas Coast this past summer. I was fishing the fly on a Cortland Quick Decent line, letting it sink about 10 feet or so before starting the retrieve. The retrieve was very quick 3 foot strips, which drove the mackerel nuts. Without a doubt, the most explosive strikes I've had on a fly rod. The 20 to 40lb kings were coming 4 to 8 feet out of the water when striking my fly. Setting the hook on a 60 inch King Mackerel while it was 8 feet in the air was something I will never forget. When the action slowed all we had to do was slide the popper head on and pop the fly as hard as we could and hold on. This fly is responsible for my pending Texas State Fly-Fishing Record King Mackerel which I caught back in August of this year.

Barracuda also love this fly. I have found that the best technique for the cuda's is to strip the fly as fast as you can until a fish comes up for a look. Then, STOP THE FLY. Let it sit and just barely twitch the fly. The barracuda will often begin to swim away, seemingly disinterested. Continue to twitch the fly and he will come back for a second look. They may come back several times for a look and then finally they just become so aggravated they often make one more pass savagely attacking the fly. They will hit it when it's moving fast, but the super slow motion technique works very well. I have caught some very large, educated barracuda using this technique in the Bahamas, the Keys and in Belize, including several fish over 40 inches and a couple over 50 inches.

Suffice to say that this fly is quite versatile. It will work on pretty much every large predatory fish that swims. Just give it a try. One thing I've started doing recently is tying these flies as tube flies. This makes the fly even more versatile since you can customize the hook to the specific situation.

It takes some time and a lot of material to tie the Big Mack, but it's all worth it if you want to catch some big fish!!

Big Mack with pophead

These are two Texas State Records I set on August 27, 2000 using the Big Mack. The fish on the left in the photo is a King Mackerel that weighed 19 pounds 15 ounces. The fish on the right is a dolphin fish (Mahi-mahi or Dorado) that weighed 11 pounds 9 ounces. Just some proof as to just how effective the Big Mack is.

Jeff Pierce
About Jeff Pierce Jeff Pierce, AKA Dr. Fish, is the North American Sales Coordinator for O. Mustad & Son (USA), Inc and Partridge of Redditch. He is the Captain of Team Mustad USAand is a diehard angler and fly tier.