Size 20 Griffith Gnats
The Griffith’s Gnat was George Griffiths favorite fly. George was one of the founders of Trout Unlimited which had its origins in Northern Michigan. He made this fly famous and it is definitely a real fish catcher.
Son Tao ties a terrific looking Griffith’s Gnat. He recently did a step-by-step of how he ties his Griffith’s Gnats, so here it is.
Son says:
“I use Semperfli 18/0 30 Denier thread for flies size 16 and smaller. It’s very small diameter thread that lays flat and is GSP. So it’s about as strong or stronger than 140 denier thread. I just color it before the whip finish. Difficulty is 1/10.”
Materials list:
Hook: Tiemco 100 or any standard dry fly hook in sizes 14-24. This tie is a size 20.
Body: Peacock herl
Hackle: Whiting Grizzly
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- Start thread and stop at the start of the bend.
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- Measure out the appropriate size hackle. Here I’m tying on a size 20 Tiemco 100 so I selected a neck feather and checked it on the gauge.
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- Preen the fibers so it’ll be easier to pull off the barbs.
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- Pull enough barbs off so that the stem is roughly the length of the hook. You don’t need to be perfect. Just trim any stem that’s too long. Noticed that I plucked more on one side than the other? By doing so, it’ll help guide the hackle the correct way on the first wrap. Convex side is facing you in the photo.
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- I love these extra fine peacock heels from Feather-Craft. They’re about 14 inches long and durable. Perfect for Griffith Gnats. Plus a $3 pack will last you ages. Otherwise, you’ll want to use a herl from the peacock eye.
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- Tie in the herl.
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- Do touching wraps with the herl. Tie off and trim the waste. Be sure when you tie it off, leave a hook eye’s gap of bare shank so you don’t crowd the eye.
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- Now wrap the hackle. Tie it off and trim the waste. Whip finish and apply your favorite head cement or resin. I use Loons UV Flow.
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- The finished fly.
Nicely done!
Outside of the Adams, the Gnat is my favorite dry fly- I tie and fish them from # 18 down to #28 yeah #28 on Vince Marino midge hook. The reason was on a late afternoon on the Housatonic in CT. The trout were rising but would not take anything I had, so I when back to the car, got out the vise and tied some Gnats in # 28, reworked my leader down to 8x got it turning over the way I wanted it to and then caught 12 more fish before it got so dark I could not see. I have no idea what the trout were taking it for, but it worked and that was not the only time. God that was 30 years ago. Used spider web for a thread. Now we got it so much better.