George A. Griffith was a Hoisery salesman turned conservation leader. An impassioned protector of trout for over half a century, he was one of the founding fathers of Trout Unlimited.
Griffith called his home the Barbless Hook, a plug for catch-and release trout fishing;
His book “For the Love of Trout” is his story.
Mr Griffith died in 1998 at 97. He was inducted into the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum, Fly Fishing Hall of Fame in 2008.
The Griffiths Gnat is his brain child.
Mr Griffiths tied the fly on a size 20 hook with a peacock body palmered with grizzly hackle.
Griffiths introduced the fly to Dr Ernestt Schwiebert who popularized the fly in his classic book “Nymphs.”
Schweirbert told me he thought the Trout took the Gnat for a cluster of resting or mating diptera on the surface film.
Dr Schwiebert varied the body material, sometimes substituting muskrat or floss for peacock.
Anytime I can incorporate peacock into a Spring Creek pattern I do, so I stick with the peacock body. I tie it in sizes 18 to 28.
Mr Griffiths pattern is my “go to” pattern when adult diptera are on the water.
This is an excerpt from the Fly Tying Class workbook.
We will learn:
1. Working with peacock (2 ways)
We will practice:
1. Winding Hackle
Tools
Vice,Bobbin,Bodkin,Hackle Plier
Materials
Peacock, Grizzly Hackle, #18 94840, Olive 8/0 thread