Sub-Total: $0.00
Gray Ghost
Gray Ghost
Tying Instructions
1. Start thread about 4/5 near hook eye. Build a thread base up to hook barb. Tie in the tinsel and the floss. advance the thread to the 4/5 position.
2. Wrap the floss evenly up to the 4/5 position and secure.
3. Wrap the tindel ribbing evenly spaced up to the 4/5 position and secure.
4. With a small bundle of white bucktail, even up the tips in a hackle stacker. Attach a bundle of white bucktail beneath the shank at the 4/5 position with the ends of bucktail reaching the bend of the hook.
5. Tie four olive-gray saddle hackles for the wings. Watch symmetry and length.
6. Attach a curving golden pheasant crest so that it follows the arch of the hen hackles feathers. If you bind the threads across some of the pheasant fibers, this will keep it from twisting on you.
7. Attach a pair of peacock herls on either side of the shank. The herl should not exceed the hen hackles.
8. Tie in the Shoulders of silver pheasant body feather.
9. Tie in the jungle cock eyes for the cheeks.
10. Build up a small head, whip finish, and varnish head.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 300 #6-10 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Ribbing | Flat Silver Tinsel |
| Body | Burnt Orange Floss |
| Throat | White Bucktail |
| Wing (top) | 4 Medium Dun Saddle Hackles with Golden Pheasant Crest as a topping |
| Wing (under) | Peacock Herl |
| Cheek | Silver Pheasant Body Feathers and Jungle Cock |
Carrie Stevens
Gray Ghost
This is probably the most famous of many streamers designed by Carrie Stevens of Madison, Maine in 1924. Carrie, the wife of Maine Guide Wallace Stevens, took a break from her camp chores and tied a streamer which would resemble a small baitfish. She tied a bunch of white bucktail under the hook, and two olive-grey saddle hackles on top of the hook, then took her creation to the Upper Dam pool, where she promptly hooked a 6 lb, 13 oz brook trout.
Gray Ghost
She entered this fish into a contest which was being held by Field and Stream, winning second prize, and upon receiving a flood of orders for her new pattern, she found herself in the fly tying business. The Gray Ghost continues to be a very effective streamer pattern within many Sierran lakes. The Gray Ghost Special is a variation of the pattern mainly used with smaller hook sizes to offer a compact size. Most of the Sierran fly shops will sell this pattern as a Gray Ghost since it is commercially tied in ample numbers.
Black Ghost
The Black Ghost was developed by Herbert Welch in 1927, although there were some earlier versions dating back to 1919. Herbert was a taxidermist, fishing guide, and an accomplished artist living at Haines Landing, Lake Mooselookmeguntic, Maine across the lake from Carrie Stevens. He operated a fly shop at the lake carrying both his and Carries’ flies. Herbert claimed to be the first to tie featherwing streamer flies. He used reshaped bluefish bait hooks to the length necessary for the streamers he created.
The Black Ghost became very popular in the 1930’s while the Percy Tackle Company of Portland, Maine produced them in quantities. The fly is very effective as a streamer pattern and remains popular today. Another Sierran variation is the Brown Ghost, tied by Robert Broughton of Sparks, Nevada. You will find this pattern in some of the fly shops around the Eastern Sierra. It’s a slightly simplified variation using a chenille body ribbed with Gold Wire. The underwing has been eliminated and the Golden Pheasant crest is replaced by a collar hackle that comes from the back of a Golden Pheasant and has many of the same colorations as the crest. The cheeks are simply grizzly dyed yellow saddle hackle tips.
Variations
Grey Ghost Special
| Hook | TMC 5263, sizes 12-14 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Head | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Body | Burnt Orange Antron yarn |
| Throat | White Bucktail |
| Wing (top) | 4 Medium Dun Saddle Hackles |
| Wing (under) | Peacock Herl |
| Cheek | Silver Pheasant Body Feathers |
Black Ghost
| Hook | TMC 300 #6-10 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Ribbing | Flat Silver Tinsel |
| Body | Black Floss |
| Throat | Yellow Hackle Fibers |
| Wing (top) | 4 Cream Saddle Hackles with White Bucktail above |
| Tail | Yellow Hackle Fibers |
| Cheek | Jungle Cock |
Brown Ghost
| Hook | Daiichi 2220 #6-10 |
| Thread | Danville Brown 6/0 |
| Head | Danville Brown 6/0 |
| Ribbing | Gold Wire, Medium |
| Body | Brown Chenille, Large |
| Wing (top) | 2 Brown Saddle Hackles |
| Wing (under) | Light Yellow Antron Yarn |
| Tail | Light Yellow Antron Yarn |
| Cheek | Grizzly Yellow Saddle tips |
| Collar | Golden Pheasant Back Feathers |