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Griffith’s Gnat
Griffith’s Gnat
Tying Instructions
1.Attach the thread behind the eye and run a thread base to the bend of the hook.
2. Attach two peacock herl at the bend of the hook and secure the herl along the top of the hook shank.
3. Attach an extra fine wire to the top of the hook shank securing the wire back to the bend of the hook.
4. Wrap the two strands forward evenly without overlap to an eye length behind the eye.
5. Attach a Grizzly hackle by the butt with the concave side facing you. The hackle should be no longer than 1.5 x’s the hook gap.
6. Wrap the hackle, evenly spaced, back to the bend of the hook and secure with a pinch of the ribbing wire.
7. Wrap the ribbing wire forward through the hackle fibers up to the eye and secure with a couple of thread wraps. Break off the wire by moving it back and forth against the thread. It will break close to the thread.
8. Wrap a small head and whip finish
9. Apply a drop of head cement.
10. The finished Griffith’s Gnat.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 101 #16-24 or TMC 103BL #15-21 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Body | Peacock Herl |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle |
George Griffith
Griffith’s Gnat
The Griffith’s Gnat usually is used to imitate clusters of midge emergers or mating chironomids. The origin of the pattern is often attributed to George Griffith, one of the founders of Trout Unlimited. However, according to a close personal friend of George Griffith, Mr. Bob Summers, this is not so. Bob says, “George did not invent the fly, he told me that more than once.” The fly was shown to George in 1939 by a man named Walt Shaw. It became George’s favorite pattern, hence the name.
George’s Favorite Fly
No one knows exactly who created the fly. It can be fished as either a dry fly (mating chironomids) or subsurface as a cluster of midge larvae. A small amount of split may be necessary to get it down. Also use this fly in tandem with nymph patterns , using the Griffith’s as an indicator with some floatant. The original pattern uses peacock herl for the body. However, many variations exist which using either dyed peacock herl or dubbing in colors of gray, olive, black , or tan. There are a couple ways to tie this pattern either with a rib or without.
A rib or not
The typical pattern is without a rib and all of the material are secured at the bend of the hook. The herl is wrapped forward, then the hackle is palmered over the herl up to the eye and secured. A rib can provide additional durability to the hackle and, if you add a ribbing, start the hackle behind the eye and palmer back toward the bend of the hook, just like bugger patterns. The ribbing is then wrapped forward over the hackle quill and secured behind the eye. This method not only provides for a more durable fly but the thread head will be much easier to finish.
The Griffith’s Gnat pictured used a hackle that was undersized (a size 20 hackle with a size 18 hook). Note that the fibers reach the bottom of the hook due to palmering the hackle over a dubbed body. The variations provided used the same size hackle as the hook. The fibers on these variations extend below the hook. It’s best that the pattern uses a hackle that does not extend more the 1.5 x’s the gape. The hackle should be stiff fibers from a rooster cape or saddle. For the really small sizes, you might need to refer to the cape.
Roger Hill’s Stillborn Midge
Roger Hill came up with a variation of the Griffth’s Gnat by using a Peacock herl underbody and adding a wisp of muskrat underfur for a shuck. He named the pattern the Stillborn Midge, but most will identify the pattern as Roger Hill’s Stillborn Midge. Roger developed the pattern while fishing on the South Platte sometime in the 1980’s. He wrote about the pattern in his book, Fly Fishing the South Platte River (1992). Ed Engle considered the pattern one of the best trailing shuck patterns he has found and wrote about the pattern is his book, Tying Small Flies (2004).
Variations
Griffiths Gnat, Olive
| Hook | TMC101 #16-24 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Body | Olive Haretron dubbing |
| Head | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle |
Griffiths Gnat, Black
| Hook | TMC101 #16-24 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Body | Black Haretron dubbing |
| Head | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle |
Griffiths Gnat, Olive Tan
| Hook | TMC101 #16-24 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Body | Olive Tan Haretron dubbing |
| Head | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle |
Roger Hill’s Stillborn Midge
| Hook | TMC 100 #20-24 |
| Thread | Veevus Black 16/0 |
| Body | Peacock Herl |
| Head | Veevus Black 16/0 |
| Shuck | Muskrat underfur with guard hairs removed |
| Hackle | Grizzly Hackle |