Description
Carrie Stevens tied the first Gray Ghost in 1924 on the banks of the Upper Dam Pool in Rangeley, Maine. She caught a six-pound-thirteen-ounce brook trout on it that same afternoon. A hundred years later, this pattern is still the standard by which landlocked salmon and brook trout streamers are measured.
Every element on this fly matters. The gray saddle hackle wings imitate a smelt's back. The golden underwing and silver pheasant crest topping give it the pale, ghostly profile that named it. Jungle cock cheeks catch the light. Peacock herl runs along the shoulder. Black head, wire ribbing, tied on a Daiichi 2220 long-shank.
What eats it: Landlocked salmon in northern lakes. Brook trout on the swing. Brown trout hunting smelt in cold water. Lake trout when they push shallow. Rainbows in tailwaters. This is not a stillwater fly only — it fishes rivers beautifully.
How to fish it: Traditionally trolled behind a canoe on cold Maine mornings. Modern: dead drift and swing on a floating line for river fish, or count-and-strip on a sinking line in stillwater. On the swing, let it hang at the end of the drift — that's when big salmon eat it.
Size: #4 on Daiichi 2220 4XL streamer hook. Hand-tied.
Round out the streamer box. Fish this with the rest of the FINATICS classic streamer collection:
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