Tying the Gitana

 

Step 1. Use black thread to affix the gut eye at the point of the hook. The point should extend about half way into the eye. Then use a heavier gauge white thread (I use GSP 200) to create a tapered body. I do this by simply winding back and forth a few times, extending further back with each wind. Leave the thread so it hangs down at the rear of the barb. Strip the metal from the end of a short piece of fine oval tinsel. Tie in on the far side of the hook, catching just a couple of metal windings. If you don't do this, the metal will unwind ultimately. Bind down the core by winding forward 5 wraps, or 8 if you're using GSP thread.

 

 

Step 2. Tie in the floss on the far side of the hook. Wrap forward eight wraps

 

 

Step 3. Wind the floss back to the tinsel, then forward to just short of the hook point. Unwrap your thread seven turns and catch the floss butt. Bind down the floss with four turns of thread, cut the floss, and then take thread forward one more turn. This will form our base for the tail and ostrich herl butt. Wrap back to the floss.

 

 

Step 4. Shape a golden pheasant crest feather (open it up a bit) by crimping the first third with your thumbnail on the back of it. Flatten and crimp the stem. Tie in a tail that's about 1 ½ times the size of the hook gap, measuring from the tail tie in point to the tip of the tail.

 

 

Step 5. Tie in the tail with three wraps forward, then tug it forward until it looks like the picture. This will gather the fibers a bit and make the tail very stable. Don't overdo the pulling, too much and the fibers go everywhere. Once situated, check it carefully, and then cut the butts and wrap two more wraps forward, again checking, then five wraps back to the tail tie in point.

 

 

Step 6. Tie in two small jungle cock eyes back to back. The stems will need to be flattened and bent for these to sit vertically. Tie in two small chatterer feathers or subs extending about halfway up the jungle cock, flanking the jungle cock.

 

 

Step 7. Make sure everything sits perfectly vertically. There is no coming back from a mistake here.

 

 

Step 8. Strip the end of a piece of ostrich herl and tie in. Wrap thread forward 5 or 6 wraps. Wrap herl 4 or 5 wraps forward and tie off.

 

 

Step 9. Trim the end of a piece of flat tinsel to a point and tie in. Wind forward to the 1/3 point on the body. Tie off.

 

 

Step 10. Tie in 2 matching Indian Crow feathers or subs, on the outer edges of the hook, back to back. Leave a space between them to accommodate the wings.

 

 

Step 11. From the side it looks like this.

 

 

Step 12. Tie another pair on the bottom of the hook, mirroring the pair you tied on top. Then tie in and wind another piece of herl for the joint (another butt).

 

 

Step 13. Tie in a folded cock hackle underneath the hook as shown.

 

 

Step 14. Strip the end of a piece of fine oval gold tinsel or gold lace and tie in with one wrap of thread, catching a few winds of metal. Trim the end of a piece of flat tinsel to a point and tie in.

 

 

Step 15. Wrap thread to the front binding down the tinsel and hackle tip and tie in a strand of black floss.

 

 

Step 16. Switch to black thread. Wind the floss back to the ostrich herl joint, then forward, catching it at the front with the black thread.

 

 

Step 17. Wrap five turns of flat tinsel evenly spaced. Tie off the 6^th wrap on your side of the hook, which will facilitate the mounting of the wing on top.

 

 

Step 18. Wrap the oval gold tinsel just behind the flat silver tinsel, butted right up against it. Wrap the hackle, strands angling backward, just behind the oval gold tinsel, trying to not leave any space between them.

 

 

Step 19. Now mount the wings as shown. Note the lower strands have been removed from the feathers. This has been done so that the feather can sit more level on the hook, not cocked up. The space will be hidden later. These are a matched pair of macaw covert feathers, mounted back to back.

 

 

Step 20. Add large jungle cock feathers to the sides of the wing as shown.

 

 

Step 21. Strip one side of a small green macaw covert. Tie in just in front of the wing.

 

 

Step 22. Wind the macaw forward like a wet fly hackle, strands angling back. Catch with the thread and bind down back to the wing. Take several firm wraps right in front of the wing.

 

 

Step 23. Use a razor blade and cut the stem carefully on top and bottom. This is akin to brain surgery. Clean up the stems with scissors. Try not to cut the thread, but if this happens, the wraps you took in front of the wing will save you.

 

 

Step 24. Bind down the hackle butts after removing as much of the stem as possible.

 

 

Step 25. Tie in a golden pheasant tippet feather on each side of the wing. Make sure they don't obscure the Indian crow. The part of the tippet tied in should be flattened and cut so that it extends halfway to the eye.

 

 

Step 26. Tie in a second pair of golden pheasant tippets. The black tips should line up with the 2^nd black band on the original pair.

 

 

Step 27. Tie in a 3^rd pair, slightly smaller than the second, again lining up the feather tips with the 2nd line on the pair before it. Pull off any strands of the wing that still show above the golden pheasant tippets.

 

 

Step 28. Tie in fairy bluebird cheeks as shown. You can do subs for these feathers, though fairy bluebird available on-line from time to time.

 

 

Step 29. I decided that the throat wasn't long enough on this fly, and here tied in bunches of macaw coverts on each side. This is not normally necessary.

 

 

Step 30. Prepare two similarly shaped and sized golden pheasant crest toppings, and tie in one at a time. Don't cut the butts right away, use them to correctly orient the toppings. Cut them just short of the eye, which will help promote a taper.

 

 

Step 31. Be sure to check the other side periodically.

 

 

Step 32. Tie in the horns one at a time near the top of the head. I like to use lefts and rights for this, but it's not absolutely necessary if you don't have the right feathers.

 

 

Step 33. Here is the finished fly after adding a herl head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gitana Recipe

 

 

Tag: Silver twist, and red silk the same colour (sic) as the points of the Indian crow.
Tail: Two toppings; Jungle, and Kingfisher, one of each on either side.
Butt: Black herl
Body: One-third silver tinsel; over which four Indian Crow, two at top, two at bottom, back to back, sideways; continuing with three or four close turns of black herl. The rest black silk.

Hackle: Black, from silk.

Ribbed: Silver tinsel, and gold lace.
Throat: Green macaw (the feather is from under the wing or tail of the bird).
Wings: Two dark blue macaw feathers (taken from the top of the wing), Jungle on either side extending beyond tag, and five Tippet feathers, as illustrated, reaching to the butt, with three or four golden Pheasant toppings over.

Cheeks: Enameled Thrush.
Head: Black herl