The Black Phantom

Story:

We are currently well ensconced in the Information Age. Detailed information concerning just about every topic imaginable is at our fingertips. Sadly this was not the case 30 or 35 years ago, when I first began to pursue stripers with a flyrod. Any article that appeared in a magazine at the time was quickly devoured. I can remember a number of such articles, which were read and reread hundreds of times. They dealt with striper fishing on the West Coast in the San Francisco area. The author was Russell Chatham.

In 1966, Russell Chatham caught what was then the world record striped bass for 15 lb. test tippet. It was a 36 pound 6 ounce fish taken from under a bridge in San Francisco Bay at daybreak on an 8" black streamer.

This and other exploits by Mr. Chatham would certainly qualify him as being one the pioneers of fly fishing for stripers.

Somewhere, perhaps in one of his articles, I heard of a very successful pattern that he used. This pattern was the Black Phantom. Recently I saw a description of this pattern.

It is easy to see why this pattern was very productive. It possesses the qualities that are shared by all great patterns. It is easy to tie. It may be easily modified to create the length and profile desired. It has tremendous action. It pushes water – certainly a favorable quality in any nighttime pattern.

This pattern will see a lot of late night action for me on the outer beaches this season.

You might want to try one yourself!

Materials:

Thread:	Black
Hook:	2 to 6/0
Tail:	Collar of black bucktail. Two to 5 long black hackles surrounding hook shank
Body:	Black thread
Wing:	Same as tail with up to 8 hackles
Head:	Palmer 3 black saddle hackles to hook eye
Cement:	Head cement or super glue

Instruction:

The following instructions for tying the Black Phantom are a synopsis of those contained in Russell Chatham’s classic book "Striped Bass on the Fly; A Guide to California Waters." The publication has been out of print for some time.

Step 1:

Wind the tying thread back and forth around the length of the shank to make a good base for the rest of the materials.

At the rear of the fly, at the normal tail tie in location, secure black bucktail that has been fanned around the hook shank forming a collar.

Step 2:

Over the bucktail, place two to five saddle hackles (depending on the size and profile of the fly you want). Arrange the hackles around the shank in 360-degree fashion with the natural curvature of the hackle inward. Wind thread up over these materials to form a simple body.

Step 3:

At the midpoint on the hook, apply another clump of black bucktail as you did with the tail. Fan the hair around the hook in a 360-degree fashion.

Step 4:

Apply saddles the same way as you did on step 2. As many as eight or ten hackles may be used for this section. The number of hackles will determine the profile of the fly. A furnace, badger or grizzly hackle or two may be added for variation or effect.

Step 5:

In front of this forewing, palmer two or three black hackles to form a collar. This collar is similar to that used on a Whistler. Form a head, whip finish and apply head cement or super glue to finish the fly.

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