This is a quite simple, yet very effective imitation for gnats. It is a rater sparse fly that has a good profile, and with the right presentation can be a good weapon during the first few trips of the season. It can be tied in a whole varieties of sizes, but as it is a gnat, one will rarely have the need for anything bigger than a size 14, which in its self is a colosal speciment in regard to what insect we are imitating. Personaly I have had some good experiences with the sizes 16 and 18, but for this pattern, only your own abilities are the final limit to how small one can tie this pattern. Tight Lines!
Little Black Gnat
Hook: Standard or short shank dryfly hook, size 14 and smaller Thread: Black Body: Black poly-dubbing, for example Fly-Rite #2 Black Ribbing: Black narrow flat tinsel
Wings: White hackle points Hackle: Black genetic rooser sadle hackle Thorax: Same dubbing as the body
Step 1: Tie On The Thread
The on the thread. Here I use a 14/0 rayon thread in the color black.
Step 2: The Ribbing
Tie in the ribbing material and advance the thread backward.
Step 3: Dub The Body
Make a slim body with your prefered poly-dubbing. Leave about a quarter of the body length left for the thorax area.
Step 4: Wrap The Ribbing
Wrap the ribbing in equally spaced turns forward.
Step 5: Prepare The Wings
Pick out two small white rooster hackle feathers with their tips complete, and measure them up just short of the length of the hook, and trim off the fibers of the bottom part of the feather. Note that these are very small feathers; less than an inch long.
Step 6: Tie In The Wings
Tie in the hackle points so the are laying flat over the body and pointing outward.
Step 7: Tie In The Hackle
Strip one side of a black genetic rooster hackle and tie in on your far side. Once this is done, one can add a drop of superglue to the thread area to help better secure the feathers, which will also increase the flys durability.
Step 8: Dub The Thorax
Use the same dubbing as for the body, and make a thorax area.
Step 9: Wrap The Hackle
Wrap the hackle in 3 equal turns over the thorax area.
Step 10: Finish Off And Trim
Secure the hackle, and then form the head before finishing off with a whip-finish or a few half-hitches. Varnish the head and then trim off the hackle fibers on the underside. Your fly is now done!
A New Season
It was just a few days ago that the ice went off the lake, and upon this knowledge it didn't take long before your rucksack was packed, and you was on your merry way. Even though the surrounding nature, still grey and lifeless, you knew that the first signs of life would at any moment manifested itself on the water surface. With pale and shaky hands you assemble your beloved rod; a task, now so familiar, that it has become some kind of spiritual ritual, and you could finally feel that the long awaiting moment was now soon to come.
The air was chilling, the sky slightly overcast, behind lies the forest emitting nothing but a dead silence; a stillness only broken on occasion by a lonesome crow from afar. Before you lies the lake reflecting grey skies, with its liquid body thick, and slow, and still too. You gaze out over the cold, dead lake for a while, and finally witness the first trout of the season is rising, the heartbeat increases, it is an long awaited event; now a reality with you present, and not just in spirit, but in body too.
The trout rises again, and the temptation grows strong from within; yet you remain cool for the moment. It is a game worthy it's potential triumph; and it only takes one little mistake to make failure of this game. After following the distant prey for a little while, you start to get a clue of what its feeding on, and when you even observe one of these insects sitting on the surface, your suspicions grows further. – It's a adult gnat! A new dry fly season has arrived.
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All photos are taken by me and shall not be used without permission.