32 Gray Ghost – Streamer

32 Gray Ghost – Streamer Fly Tied and Text by: Peggy Brenner, Milford, NH About the Gray Ghost The Gray Ghost is probably the most well known of the featherwing streamer style flies used to imitate primarily smelt or baitfish in streams and lakes. In 1924, Carrie Stevens, one of the most well known streamer creators from Maine at the time, created the Gray Ghost. Carrie’s husband Wallace, was a well known guide on the Upper Dam area near the Rapid River. She won a Field and Stream contest catching a 6 pound 13 once brook trout on what was credited as a Gray Ghost. There is a little controversy and some think the famous fly was the Rangeley Favorite created previous to the Gray Ghost and a much simpler streamer. Her streamers were designed and fished as casting or trolling flies with the trolling flies being much longer and larger. The Gray Ghost is a challenging fly to tie with a complex multi layer wing, golden pheasant crest, and a tag, rib and floss work. When you master the technique, you will be able to tie up any streamer pattern. Materials List Hook: Standard Streamer hook. Mustad L87-3665A 3XH/7XL Size: 2, 4, or 6 Thread: White 6/0 or 8/0 for the body work and black for the head. Tag: Flat silver tinsel Body: Orange silk or rayon floss Ribbing: Flat silver tinsel Underbelly: Three to four strands peacock herl, then white bucktail Throat: Golden pheasant crest Wing: Golden pheasant crest, then 4 dun saddle hackles Shoulder: Silver pheasant body feather Cheek/Eye: Jungle cock Head: Black thread 33 Proportion description and tying detail Some tiers tie the Gray Ghost streamer in the order of the material list; we are going to use a method where the wing is built first and as the glue dries, the body work is completed. The wing hackle will be a hook gap longer than the bend of the hook, the tips of the 4 hackle have to match and be straight or the streamer will not ride in the water properly it will cause the fly to spin. Ironing, wetting and other methods of making them straight will create problems later when you fish your streamer and the hackle goes back to the original shape. When you start your body work, think of a nice smooth finish to mount the wings. Think of a small head and knife straight wings. Wing Preparation: Prepare the right and left wing assemblies individually. Each side consists of two hackle feathers extending 1 gap longer than the hook, silver pheasant shoulder 1/3 the length of the wing hackles, and jungle cock eye cheek ½ the length of the shoulder. Cement these together and set aside. Tag: Form a thread base to above the hook point. Wrapping 3 turns forward form the tag. Tie in the ribbing tinsel on the underside of the hook and return the thread to 1 eye length behind the eye of the hook. Body: Tie in the floss and wrap back to the tag and reverse back to the front in smooth neat turns. Ribbing: Even turns beginning and ending on the underside of the fly with a space of two tinsel widths between the ribs. Underbelly: Three to 5 strands of peacock herl and a small sparse bundle of white bucktail extending to slightly beyond the bend of the hook. Throat: A Golden pheasant crest feather tied in on underside, curving upward and extending to a point slightly shorter than the underbelly. Wing mount: Switch to black thread. Tie in a golden pheasant Crest feather as long as the wing on top of the hook. Mount the off side wing first, think 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock for positioning. Preen wings as necessary and trim the waste. Head: Create a nice smooth head 1 eye length long and finish with head cement. References Hilyard, Graydon R. and Leslie K. (2000). Carrie G Stevens Maker of Rangeley Favorite Trout and Salmon Flies.Stackpole Books Bates, Joseph D. (1966). Streamer Fly Tying & Fishing. Stackpole Books Martinek, Mike Jr. (2000). Streamer Fly Patterns for Trolling & Casting Vol II. Franklin, MA. PP&MM Publications Retrieved from Marcelo Morales - https://www.flydreamers.com/en/fly-tying/view-162/gray-ghost .

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