Fly of the Month

Bob Ireton brings together his experience in fly fishing, aquatic entomology, and knowledge of fly tying techniques and materials, to design and tie durable and effective flies.


   Volume 3,  Issue 2                                                                 February 2002

 GRIFFITH'S GNAT

Fly and Text by Bob Ireton
Photography by Bob Kimsey and Bob Ireton

The Grifith's Gnat is a 'go to' fly whenever small midges are hatching. Tie on a size 18 or 20 when you can't see the insect that is causing a rise of trout.

George Griffiths, one of the founding fathers of Trout Unlimited, created one of our most important midge dressings. The Griffith's gnat is simple, no more than a peacock herl or dubbed body, overwound with grizzly hackle. You can change the body to various midge colors of gray, olive, black, or tan.

The beauty of the fly is the way it floats half in and half out of the surface film. It represents something stuck, trying to emerge from its shuck. It seems like there is always a midge hatch, so this is one fly that I recommend having in your fly box!

MATERIALS

Hook - TMC 100, Dai-Riki 300, Daiichi 1100, Mustad 94840, Orvis 1509
Size 14-28
Thread - Olive 8/0
Rib - Fine gold tinsel or wire
Hackle - Grizzly dry fly hackle, palmered
Body - Synthetic peacock dubbing

TYING STEPS

1 - Secure hook properly in vice, and pinch down barb if desired. On the smaller sizes, it might be best to leave the barb intact. Tie in thread one hookeye space behind eye of hook, and lay on a thread base rearward, stopping above barb. Tie a half hitch.

gnat-1.jpg (14063 bytes)
2 - Now tie in a piece of fine gold tinsel for the rib. Fine copper wire will work if you prefer.

gnat-2.jpg (11090 bytes)
3 - Prepare proper size of good quality grizzly dry fly hackle. Proper size means that the fibers on the shaft are 1 1/2 times the space of the hook gape. Tie hackle in so when it is palmered forward, the shiny side will be facing the hook eye. Tie a half hitch. gnat-3.jpg (14193 bytes)
4 - This fly is traditionally tied using natural peacock herl for the body, and you may use that material if you prefer. I like to use synthetic peacock dubbing. I think it is easier to use, and more durable. I find that using a dubbing loop works best for this dubbing. Whichever method you choose, either tie in some peacock herl and make a body, or dub a body using the synthetic dubbing. Tie a half hitch.

gnat-4.jpg (17975 bytes)
5 - Palmer the hackle forward, tie off, and trim excess hackle. Tie a half hitch. gnat-5.jpg (19388 bytes)
6 -Palmer the ribbing forward in the opposite direction as you did the hackle.Weave the rib between the hackle fibers, so the fibers are not mashed down. Tie off the rib and trim the tag end. Form a small head, tie a half hitch, then a whip finish. Add a small amount of head cement. gnat-6.jpg (16563 bytes)

Note - By now you have noticed that I tie a durable fly by taking a little more time and effort, such as adding a half hitch after various steps, in addition to a whip finish and head cement.. The small amount of extra weight this might add does not noticeably affect the performance of the fly. It is a lot easier to do this at the tying bench instead of having to change a fly in the heat of a hatch because the fly fell apart after catching a fish or two!

 

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