Fly Tying Archive:
by Lyle Robertson
The East Coast Ghost
I was playing around one night looking at a big white Bomber plug and
I know it is a producing plug and I wanted to make a Fly that looked
like it. Here is the result. This is a white flatwing tied Ken Abrahms
style. Ken liked it and told me to name and post it. Then came yellow
then black and a variety
of solid colors. All are single colored with a bit of accent on
the cheeks. These are very easy to tie as shown below:
Materials List:
| Hook |
Eagle Claw 253/254 in size 1/0-4/0 |
| Thread |
White |
| Buck Tail |
White and 2-3 each of green apple, light blue
and pink bucktail |
| Neck Hackle |
White |
| Saddle Hackle |
White |
| Body |
Pearl Body Braid |
| Eyes |
Jungle Cock Nails |
|
Starting the Fly
Start your thread and fill in the gap of the hook eye. This prevents
the line from binding or sliping into the hook gap. wrap the thread
back to the point of the hook as shown.
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Part 1 the Platform
Start with a bunch of bucktail and tie it on to
the hook shank. Do not tie back beyond the hooh shank. Spead
the bucktail out like a fan. this makes a platform.
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Buidling the Tail
Part 2 the Pillow
Take a neck hackle feater and at the point where the downey fibers
end. Cut the downey part from the hackle. Wax a 2-3 inch section
of the thread and roll the fluff onto the thread. Wrap the dubbed
feather around the base of the bucktail fan. this is going to
be a place to rest the feathers and helps to keep them flat. When
the body is wrapped over this pillow, it cinches the feathers
over the bump to hold them in place.
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Buidling the Tail
Part 3 the Neck Hackle
The neck hackel is an important part of the tail as it is a springy
platform that helps to hold the flatwing up. Using the remaining
portion of the feather used in part 2, tie the feather in flat
over the pillow curve side (dull) up. Take to wraps over the pillow,
do not cinch. Adjust the feather so it is flat and centered. wrap
further down the hook shank and cinch the stem down.
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Buidling the Tail
Part 4 the Saddle Hackles
Place the first saddle hackle flat centered over the pillow curved
side down . Like the neck hackle, use the portion down from the
fluff. The first hackel should be just a bit longer than the neck
hackle feather. Attach feather the same as in step 3. Repeat with
a second saddle hackle a half inch to an inch and a half longer
than the previous depending on how long your tying the fly. Attop
the second hackle, place two stands of pearl flashabu, followed
by the third and longest hackle.
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The Body
Attach the body braid to the bottom of the hook shank. Wrap over
the top, away from you, back over the pillow. Pinch the tail in
place as you tighten the tail down with the body braid. Wrap back
to the front and tie off and cut off at the bottom of the shankabout
an eith inch from the eye of the hook. This leaves foom for the
collar, cheeks and wing.
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The Collar
Attach a small bunch of bucktail on the underthird of the the
hook shank. Tie the bucktail in sparse and spread out in an even
fan. This will give the fly a good profile after it is shaped.
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The Cheeks
Place the small bundles of the cheek hairs on the evenly on the
sides of the hooks. Spread them out like the collar.
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The Wing
Place a bundle of bucktail on the top of the hook shank. Spread
the hairs down over the hook.
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The Eyes
Attach the Jungle Cock Nails on each side of the hook eye. Whip
finish 4 times of 3 wraps.
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Shaping your Fly
Hold the tip of the hook and run the fly under very hot water
to shape the fly. Let the water really soak into the hairs as
to shape the fly. Allow the fly to dry in that position, eye up.
The fly will dry shaped.
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| Attach to a leader and throw it at a Bass! |
The East Coast Ghost can be tied in many variations.
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