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Gocha Girl
Gocha Girl

By Ronn Lucas, Sr.

Milwaukie, Oregon, USA


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Fly Tying Terms

Gocha Girl

This pattern was inspired by George Cook's marabou flies. Marabou is a wonderful feather but, it can be a bear to work with, is not all that durable and can be a mess in the fly boxes. Gocha is a random length synthetic material that is very fine, moves in the water almost as fluidly as marabou, hates the water so it will not retain water making casting easier, sinks immediately, is extremely durable and, is easy to use. In short, this is a good material to use where marabou is normally used.

I'm not sure what a fish takes Cook's flies for but, they catch fish. I guess we need not analyze it any further do we.

The Gocha Girl is a little of the Show Girl and the Popsicle mixed together.

I am going to show you how to tie this and other similar patterns two ways. This first method will be called the "clump" method for lack of a better name. The second will employ a dubbing loop. The finished flies are indistinguishable unless looked at very closely.

Tying The Gocha Girl
Tied by Ronn Lucas, Sr.

    Hook: Mustad 79580 or Tyer's choice.

    Thread: Black.

    Body: Orange, red, purple and black Gocha. Add a few strands of Blue Marlin Crystal Cloth at the orange and a few 24K Crystal Cloth strands at the red Gocha.

    Head: Black or red.

Tying the Gocha Girl using the "clump" method:

    1. Pull a bit of orange Gocha from the Gocha "rope" and tie it to the rear of the hook. Hold the Gocha on top of the hook and take one "soft loop" (no thread tension) around the hook and Gocha which will roll the Gocha around the hook. Pull tight on the second turn. This in effect makes a collar of Gocha.

    Note: Use this soft loop technique on just about any material you want to encircle the hook.

    2. Attach the Blue Marlin Crystal Cloth to the base of the Gocha and secure the Gocha and tinsel tightly and advance the thread to the location of the next color of Gocha.

    This photo shows what Crystal Cloth looks like and how to use it. When unraveled, the Mylar has a distinct "scaly" appearance that to me looks "fishy." The small fibers (red in this pic) are useful for spinner wings and small flies.

    3. Attach a bit of red Gocha and 24K Crystal Cloth as before.

    4. Attach a bit of purple Gocha as before. Attach the black Gocha and finish the fly as shown.

    5. The finished fly.

    Tying the Gocha Girl using the loop method, use the same materials as the bunch method.

    1. Lay out the Gocha on the bench using about 3/4" to 1" for each color. The length to trim the fibers is up to the Tyer. This fly has fibers about 2" long with the black about 3" long. If you gently press the material flat, it should cling to itself enough to be able to pick it up and insert in into the loop. You want only enough material at the head so there isn't a big bunch to tie off. It will take a couple flies to determine just how much is just right.

    2. Attach the thread to the rear of the hook at about the bend. Make a dubbing loop and insert the prepared Gocha into the loop. Lay out the Gocha on the bench using about ¾" to 1" for each color. The length to trim the fibers is up to the Tyer. This fly has fibers about 2" long. Position the material as shown with 90% of the fibers to one side of the loop.

    3. Twist the loop JUST TIGHT ENOUGH TO HOLD THE GOCHA IN THE LOOP! If the loop is too tight, you will not be able to pick out the Gocha. The dubbing loop is not what will be holding the Gocha in the finished fly.

    Note: This picture doesn't show it but, I use a loop tool that I made which is basically just a Shepard's Hook that is inserted in the bottom of the thread loop to hold the loop tight. A pair of hackle pliers can also be used.

    4. Wrap the Gocha around the hook with TIGHT turns. It is these tight turns that secure the Gocha to the hook. On each turn, pull the previous turn of Gocha back so the next one doesn't trap any (or, as few as possible) of the Gocha under it.

    5. Using a very stout bodkin, aggressively pick out the Gocha in all directions around the hook as shown. I use bodkins I made for myself that use very heavy wire needles. Some are carpet needles and others are sail makers needles. A very strong needle is needed for this procedure, most if not all of the ones on the market will be bent if tried on this.

    6. Pull the Gocha back as shown and finish fly.


    Note: Both of these methods result in flies that look and behave the same in the water. My personal favorite method is the dubbing loop. Both will take about the same amount of time to tie.

    You can email me for my materials catalog. ~ Ronn Lucas, Sr.


    Fishing the Fly:

    Techniques like greased line fishing, (developed by Arthur Wood in Scotland for salmon fishing,) have been adapted to give steelhead flies a longer drift in shallow water. A normal long cast and slow to dead-drift retrieve allowing the fly to flow with the current should be used with this fly for salmon in rivers or estuaries.


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