Griffith's Gnat

Griffith's Gnat

The Griffith's Gnat is an essential midge pattern for tailwater and spring creek fishing, designed to imitate a cluster of hatched midges trapped together in the surface film. When midges hatch in large numbers, they often clump together on the surface — and trout key in on these clusters with the same selective focus they bring to any concentrated food source. The palmered hackle over a peacock herl body creates a buggy, multi-legged profile that perfectly imitates this cluster effect, while the iridescent peacock herl adds a lifelike quality that draws strikes even from the most selective fish.

Pattern Details

• Style: Midge cluster dry fly
• Body: Peacock herl — iridescent, lifelike profile that imitates a cluster of midge bodies
• Hackle: Palmered hackle — creates a multi-legged, buggy silhouette in the film
• Best water: Tailwaters, spring creeks, and slow pools — wherever midges are the primary surface food source
• Target species: Trout
• Techniques: Dead-drifted flush in the surface film through feeding lanes during midge hatches; also effective as a searching pattern on slow, flat water
• Sizes available: 16, 18, 20, 22, 24

A tailwater staple that no midge box should be without — the Griffith's Gnat delivers the precise cluster profile that trout are looking for when midges are on the water and the fishing gets technical.