Streamer Patterns
Streamer patterns are primarily designed to be suggestive or imitative of forage fish and small gamefish fry that are eaten by much larger trout or other gamefish. The method of fishing a streamer may be similar to fishing wet flies or nymphs but also typically includes a stripping retrieval much like conventional retrievals of other artificial fishing lures (giving the fly an action like that of a fleeting or wounded fish, eel, leech, etc.
Fly of the Month : January 2018
When you see a photo of an angler holding a large trout, realize that in many cases it was caught fly fishing with a streamer. It is the fall season and a great time to pursue larger trout using streamers. Want to catch a big trout, use a streamer! One more time…to catch a big fish…tie on a STREAMER! Two of the most popular eastern-style streamers used to imitate a minnow are the Gray Ghost and the Black Ghost. The Woolly bugger may rank equal or ahead of these in popularity and use but the “bugger” does not imitate a minnow. We will save the Gray Ghost and more specifics on fly fishing methods with streamers for another article.
The Black Ghost is one of the most famous flies ever tied, has remained popular among anglers who use streamers and since its inception has spread across the world in many variations. This simple streamer pattern lends itself nicely to wing material substitution, and is commonly tied with bucktail and marabou in many styles and variations. It has been a double-digit producer on our delayed harvest streams in the past year, especially in dingy waters!
Black Ghost
The Black Ghost is a classic American streamer which was originated in 1927 by Herbert “Herbie” Welch of Haines Landing, Maine who lived on the Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Rangeley Maine. This was just across the lake from the world-renowned fly tyer Carrie Stevens. Herbie designed and developed the Black Ghost in the early part of the 20th century beginning in 1919 to end up with the final version we know today. Only Carrie Stevens’ Gray Ghost is at the same level of notoriety as Herbie’s creation. Both are staples in fly boxes world-wide.
An avid fly tyer and outdoorsman himself, Herbie was also known for his taxidermy and artworks. Herb originated the Black Ghost, but Carrie tied his streamer and other popular streamer patterns originated by other tiers of her time, adding her unique method of cement dipped construction and banded heads to all these flies. Carrie and Herb were practically neighbors, he sold her flies in his shop at Haines Landing. The Black Ghost origination pre-dates Carrie’s Gray Ghost by about six or seven years. The Black Ghost remains as popular a fly pattern today as it was during the Depression era of the '30s. It is ideal for steelhead, salmon, sea trout, and big trout fly fishing in sizes 6, 8, 10, 12.
It is believed that Herbie was the first to tie streamers on hooks that developed into the modern 4xL, 6xL even 8xL long-shanked streamers. He required a longer hook to facilitate his vision of smelt patterns, and so used bluefish hooks as the basis of the new hook design. His reshaped hooks better served the patterns, and the thousands of smelt and streamer patterns that followed.
Carrie was a milliner by trade, and she began tying flies in 1920, after being gifted with some long shank hooks, bucktails, and feathers by Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler, a family friend and fishing guide client of her husband, Wallace. Shang gave Carrie the materials and encouraged her to tie flies. The rest is history.
Herb Welch originated the Black Ghost, but Carrie tied other popular patterns originated by other tiers of her time; she added her unique method of construction and banded heads to all these flies as well. Carrie Stevens pioneered cementing streamer wing components together in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s.
In our modern times, Elmer’s Rubber Cement is a great, durable and inexpensive (relative to Flexament) cement for cementing streamer wings and the fly does not come apart. It is readily and widely available at Walmart, CVS, Jo Ann’s Fabrics, your local hardware store, etc. and has no obnoxious odor. It does not bleed through the feathers on cemented-wing streamer flies, sets up fairly fast, but can be worked, remaining soft enough to position, re-position, and align the neck hackles, shoulders, and cheeks, if necessary. If need be, components can be disassembled and reassembled without problems (like when you accidentally get the order of wing hackles wrong, oops).
Carrie Stevens didn’t just put a dab on near the ends of the feathers, she cemented a significant portion of the feather length; and she also cemented the (inside of the) wings to the body at the front of the hook shank, cementing both sides together.
Here is a reference to other streamer fly patterns – www.streamer360.com and
https://donbastianwetflies.com/2013/01/13/carrie-stevens-and-rangeley-style-streamer
The Black Ghost is one of the most famous flies ever tied, has remained popular among anglers who use streamers and since its inception has spread across the world in many variations. This simple streamer pattern lends itself nicely to wing material substitution, and is commonly tied with bucktail and marabou in many styles and variations. It has been a double-digit producer on our delayed harvest streams in the past year, especially in dingy waters!
Black Ghost
The Black Ghost is a classic American streamer which was originated in 1927 by Herbert “Herbie” Welch of Haines Landing, Maine who lived on the Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Rangeley Maine. This was just across the lake from the world-renowned fly tyer Carrie Stevens. Herbie designed and developed the Black Ghost in the early part of the 20th century beginning in 1919 to end up with the final version we know today. Only Carrie Stevens’ Gray Ghost is at the same level of notoriety as Herbie’s creation. Both are staples in fly boxes world-wide.
An avid fly tyer and outdoorsman himself, Herbie was also known for his taxidermy and artworks. Herb originated the Black Ghost, but Carrie tied his streamer and other popular streamer patterns originated by other tiers of her time, adding her unique method of cement dipped construction and banded heads to all these flies. Carrie and Herb were practically neighbors, he sold her flies in his shop at Haines Landing. The Black Ghost origination pre-dates Carrie’s Gray Ghost by about six or seven years. The Black Ghost remains as popular a fly pattern today as it was during the Depression era of the '30s. It is ideal for steelhead, salmon, sea trout, and big trout fly fishing in sizes 6, 8, 10, 12.
It is believed that Herbie was the first to tie streamers on hooks that developed into the modern 4xL, 6xL even 8xL long-shanked streamers. He required a longer hook to facilitate his vision of smelt patterns, and so used bluefish hooks as the basis of the new hook design. His reshaped hooks better served the patterns, and the thousands of smelt and streamer patterns that followed.
Carrie was a milliner by trade, and she began tying flies in 1920, after being gifted with some long shank hooks, bucktails, and feathers by Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler, a family friend and fishing guide client of her husband, Wallace. Shang gave Carrie the materials and encouraged her to tie flies. The rest is history.
Herb Welch originated the Black Ghost, but Carrie tied other popular patterns originated by other tiers of her time; she added her unique method of construction and banded heads to all these flies as well. Carrie Stevens pioneered cementing streamer wing components together in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s.
In our modern times, Elmer’s Rubber Cement is a great, durable and inexpensive (relative to Flexament) cement for cementing streamer wings and the fly does not come apart. It is readily and widely available at Walmart, CVS, Jo Ann’s Fabrics, your local hardware store, etc. and has no obnoxious odor. It does not bleed through the feathers on cemented-wing streamer flies, sets up fairly fast, but can be worked, remaining soft enough to position, re-position, and align the neck hackles, shoulders, and cheeks, if necessary. If need be, components can be disassembled and reassembled without problems (like when you accidentally get the order of wing hackles wrong, oops).
Carrie Stevens didn’t just put a dab on near the ends of the feathers, she cemented a significant portion of the feather length; and she also cemented the (inside of the) wings to the body at the front of the hook shank, cementing both sides together.
Here is a reference to other streamer fly patterns – www.streamer360.com and
https://donbastianwetflies.com/2013/01/13/carrie-stevens-and-rangeley-style-streamer
Streamers
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Rocky River Chapter of Trout Unlimited (c) 2014