My first try at a Black Ghost

[Crotalus 0]

This was actually my third attempt.

 

Constructive criticism and comments welcome (except regarding the missing jungle cock).

 

Thanks

 

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

Only "criticizim" I would give it would be to smooth out the floss work on the body. The proportions look good but the body seems a bit lumpy, besides that then its a good one.

 

Here's a link to Paul's floss body help that he wrote, it helped me ALOT when I started doing floss body featherwings.

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=4987

 

 

[JarrodRuggles 0]

yeah the only thing i see is the body other than that great looking fly!

[Redleg 0]

Make sure your undrbody is smooth and straight. Just one long starnd of floss for the wrap. If you want a heavier body, tie in another strand and overlap the first strand, but dont' wrap them together. Also, you might try evening out the head so the throat and wing are tied plum. It looks like the hackle is tied ahead of the throat. That's if you want to do more than fish with the fly. Don't think that won't catch any less.

[Crotalus 0]

yeah, floss is my current weak point, i am having a tough time working with it for some reason.

 

 

The tie in of the tail left a bit of a lump so i wrapped the floss forward, back and forward again, which just made the lumps worse.

 

 

Thanks for the link SD i will have to study it

[Steeldrifter 0]

Floss can be a bit tricky sometimes, Paul and Dave helped me past some big issues I had with floss, and I think the most important thing is to just try to keep it flat. That link will help alot.

[Crotalus 0]

heck it helped me already, i have always tried using all 4 strands at one time.

 

I am assuming that the UNI is single strand?

 

Thanks guys

[davpot 0]

I used this pattern in Utah in the Provo River years ago after reading of its effectiveness in PA during the War (WWII). Hook shortage and all that. So I tried it. WOW! What a killer on Fall migrating Browns! Edson Leoanards classic "Flies" shows a pattern where the body sports close turns of tinsel and the wing is a much shorter affair to avoid wrapping aroud the hook. But your fly looks great and certainly works!

[Bud Guidry 0]

the uni is one strand. yellow and red seem to devide into two strands though. even though, i still divide any uni floss i use in two and at times in three strands before applying to a body' the trick is to get it to lay flat before beginning your wraps reward then back forward. Bud

[streamertyer 0]

Certainly a fish catcher.

 

My comments -

 

Tail and throat look fine. Try and not crowd the eye as much - this will help you be able to trim easier and avoid having material sticking out of the front of the head. Wing could be a tad longer, but that's more personal preference. As for the floss, make sure it's laying flat against the shank when tied in prior to beginning wrapping. When you wrap, keep equal and constant tension on all strands (if more than single strand floss) and take care to pull it over the shank in a flat manner between your fingers. This will decrease the 'rope-y' look to the body.

 

No substitute for practice. Do a half dozen or more at a time. Usually takes a couple before you 'hit the groove'.

 

Cheers,

CD

[Guest]

Floss is a tricky material to master, it takes some practice and more than a few failures to get the hang of it. Don't get discouraged, nobody picks this up overnight, except maybe Bud and Chris.

[streamertyer 0]

QUOTE (TroutBum @ Apr 26 2005, 12:38 PM)

nobody picks this up overnight, except maybe Bud and Chris.

Puhleez!

 

CD

[Joe Hard 0]

I hate 4 strand floss, and have found unistretch and stretchy floss great replacements, and alot eaiser to use.

[boba 0]

The fly posted will catch fish, lumpy body not withstanding. No offense, my body is lumpy too. Not my flies, just my body.

 

Ditto streamtyer's several comments.

 

With floss or thread, management is the issue and both have the same issues. As you wrap the floss/thread, you are actually adding twists which set up a lumpy body. Where you start also matters. Start your thread/floss a bit behind (on the hook) a bit short of where you want it it end up when you wrap back toward the head, i.e. if the body ends before you get to where you end the wing (as in the Black Ghost), start the floss just short of where the wing will star, then wrap to just short of the bend and then back to where you want the wing to start.

 

To get the hang of it: Since both floss and thread twist as you tie, irregardless of number of fibers or type, play around with applying it on a bare hook when you aren't trying to tie something real. Start your thread on the hook, wrap a few turns and then let your bobbing and thread hang off the hook. Watch what happens. It will start to unwind the twists. You can accelerate the process by giving the bobbin a slight twist in the same direction. Wait until it settles (slow it down if it starts to reverse itself). After it stops and if you then start to wrap the floss/thread, you will find it lays flat, and then after several turns of the thread/floss, starts to bunch up again. Unwrap a few turns, let it straighten and then resume wrapping. After a while, you will see what to do.

 

Even if you get your thread/floss twisted up, you can always go back over to additional wraps to fill those hollows in the body if you want to cheat. The fish won't know, only you will.

 

Some very good tying instructors taught me: if it doesn't look right, back up, unwrap, and do over if you want to get it right. Fish your mistakes, they will still catch, but the next time, do it right.