Tricos

[littlelehigh]

I know this isn't a state wide hatch but figure I'll give it a shot anyway.. What pattern's to you use and what do you use when the fish get picky. Generally an Al's Trico does it for me but I was thinking I need some back up when the going gets tough. How but emergers anybody uses them with success if so when early, early morning?

 

[Alpabuck]

I mainly fish the al's trico as well......After the spinners are done for the day try throwing a size 20 adams......you might be surpised!

 

[afishinado]

Al's trico is my bread and butter fly for the spinnerfall. Dave Rothrock has a great trico nymph pattern that works well before the hatch. Maybe he has a pic to share. Also, Jayl may have a pic or a recipe.

 

[David]

The male duns emerge at night, so they are not a big player. The females do emerge during the day. They are a greenish color with a brown ribbing...a 22-24 olive does the trick for me.

I tie poly wing spinners similar to this...
http://www.flyrecipes.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=viewlink&link_id=25401&Itemid=53

 

[jdaddy]

Fished tricos sat and sun morning with standard poly spent wing spinners. Lots of fish rising, caught lot of fish, but was taken back by the number of refusals I received. I mean it was a lot. Over those two mornings I played with removing wing material, as well as fishing trico comparaduns. Going with the less is more approach. Anyway, all those refusals haunted me to the point that I had a dream Sunday night about finding the perfect trico wing material. Imagining what the fish are seeing on the deal spinners and having taken a close look at a lot of naturals, I decided my wing had to be clear(ish) and small. Monday I tied up a few 24 and 26 tricos using threaded abdomens, LIGHTLY dubbed thorax. For the wing material I used a heavy cellophane material that is used for gift bags, wrapping baskets, etc that come on a big roll like wrapping paper. I also used medallion sheathing on a few. Both were huge successes Monday morning. Durability is the only issue that I am having with this wing material so far. The medallion sheathing seems like it is soaking up water and becoming soft. The cellophane, well you can imagine what casting and catching does to that material. But I got to tell you, they both looked darn good on the water when compared to a natural floating down stream and the fish loved them.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

Micro caddis, ants or a #18 x-caddis.

LL, that 5x you had on earlier with a #22 trico will have to get lighter. It'll help w/ a more drag free presentation.

 

[jayL]

Pretty much, it was just a near exact representation of the natural:

And it's not complicated. If you can match the basic features (tan body, dark wing case, robust thorax) on a size 20 or 22 hook, it'll catch fish.

 

[littlelehigh]

Thanks guys got the nymphs down thanks to Old lefty!


Glad to see so many rely on Al's Trico like me as the primary fly.


SN hey that fish took that 5x in that slug water above paper mill. So my drifts can't be that bad! LOL. I only started with that out of shear laziness and as I entered the water an older Veitnamies gentleman was given me the lowdown on tricos. Then he saw me land that brown and said was that on 6x? I said no 5x and he added more sewage to the stream.


jdaddy- Your wing experiment is exactly what I had in mind when I started this thread. I switched to a z-lon spent wing with no takes and that got me thinking. I'll try the gift wrap stuff tonite.


On a side note I only fished a female pattern while on the stream. For all I know majority of the fish could of been on males and that's the reason for no more hook ups. Or my abdomens were to thin on my females another hunch.


Thanks for the input guys keep em coming.

 

[littlelehigh]

what about this one:


http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-tie-traffic-jam-trico-cluster-flyfishing-373079/

interesting but I have no guts to try it on the water.

 

[dryflyguy]

littlelehigh wrote:
what about this one:


http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-tie-traffic-jam-trico-cluster-flyfishing-373079/

interesting but I have no guts to try it on the water.

I wonder what in the world those wings are made of.
Kinda look like maggots.

I tie my trico spinners on size #22 hooks -

Wing - sparkly antron
Body - fine white fir for the abdomen, and fine black fir around the thorax.
Tails - 2 split microfibbets

 

[littlelehigh]

dryflyguy wrote:

littlelehigh wrote:
what about this one:


http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-tie-traffic-jam-trico-cluster-flyfishing-373079/

interesting but I have no guts to try it on the water.

I wonder what in the world those wings are made of.
Kinda look like maggots.

I tie my trico spinners on size #22 hooks -

Wing - sparkly antron
Body - fine white fir for the abdomen, and fine black fir around the thorax.
Tails - 2 split microfibbets

I thought I heard him say chenille and he did put a lighter to them.

 

[Pontus]

Yes, they're ultra chenile with a singed tip. I'd actually really be interested in trying that fly. People often describe really thick hatches as frustrating because there are so many naturals that yours doesn't stand a chance. I think that might be a great way to give yours a better chance than a natural with the trout.

 

[JoeE]

I'll fish 20 ICSI (black and dark green) and regular long tailed short 24 or 20 trico's black and dark green.

joe e

 

[littlelehigh]

littlelehigh wrote:
what about this one:


http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-tie-traffic-jam-trico-cluster-flyfishing-373079/

interesting but I have no guts to try it on the water.

Tried a variation of this on the picturesque senic tully with good success. Sight nymph can verify and appropriately named it the christmas tinsel trico bomb!

 

[jdaddy]

Glad to see so many rely on Al's Trico like me as the primary fly.


SN hey that fish took that 5x in that slug water above paper mill. So my drifts can't be that bad! LOL. I only started with that out of shear laziness and as I entered the water an older Veitnamies gentleman was given me the lowdown on tricos. Then he saw me land that brown and said was that on 6x? I said no 5x and he added more sewage to the stream.


jdaddy- Your wing experiment is exactly what I had in mind when I started this thread. I switched to a z-lon spent wing with no takes and that got me thinking. I'll try the gift wrap stuff tonite.


On a side note I only fished a female pattern while on the stream. For all I know majority of the fish could of been on males and that's the reason for no more hook ups. Or my abdomens were to thin on my females another hunch.

Al's trico is great because it is minimalistic thus giving less for the fish to reject and I also like the hackle tied at the rear of the hook which I feel kind of disguises the exposed bend of the hook a little.

Are you saying you took A fish with the 5x? That slick pool you mentioned is full of fish and you likely would have caught a few more stepping it down to 6x. My catch rate has been getting progressively better, fishing the Tully tricos at least every other day and I attribute a lot of that to the length of my leader/tippet as well as stepping down to 7x. I have caught a lot of fish, some nice ones in there, and only lost one with the 7x (even that one was when trying to land the fish by hand as I do not normally carry a net). I think the 3 weight rod and the really long mono leader gives plenty of stretch and shock resistance. I don't find that I am over playing the fish either, as some folks tend to do when fishing light tippet. There is one guy on the Tully that spends most of his time fighting fish because he plays each one for 15 minutes. I can't imagine what the survival rate is playing a fish that long, particularly in the marginal temps of Tully.

I am still loving the celophane wing material and the fish are as well. The stuff I am using came from AC Moore, was $4 for a roll of wrapping paper proportions and could last the entire PAFF community 100 years. It is heavier than standard cellophane. The medallion sheathing is working as well, however it seems to get soaked and slimed pretty well and I find myself playing with the material a lot when on the water.

I have been experimenting with my tricos beyond wing material. I have tried tying them backwards with the wings over the hook gap. In my mind I am providing more material mass over the more substantial hook mass. This has also allowed me to experiment with tails. I use microfibbets for the trico tails. With the tails now on the eye hook end, I split two microfibbets and allow my tippet connection to be my third tail.

I cannot for the life of me get these freaking fish to eat a female trico. It's not a confidence or presentation thing as I usually fish two tricos at a time, one female and one male. I literally have not caught a fish on female trico this year. As long as I am having good catch rates with the male tricos, I have given up on female tricos this year. I am seeing plenty of female tricos on the water?

 

[jdaddy]

Oh, and to add, I have found the experimentation with tying tricos backwards and my crafty tail replication has been nothing more than a hassle. In fact I am about 50/50 on whether putting tails is even necessary as I am doing just as well without them.

 

[CLSports]

I have a great recipe for Tricos.

Take a fine screened net with you during the next Trico hatch and catch about 5000-6000 tricos and then mold them into burger patties. Grill on an open fire until cooked thoroughly. High in protein.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

LL's trico cluster bomb cleaned house. I was very impressed. I think it was tied w/ a shoelace, Easter basket grass, and spun hair from a unicorn. At any rate, the young man handed me my a** Saturday morning. Tried to mug him in the parking lot to take the fly but those young guys are fast!

 

[gfen]

Does E. Hille carry unicorn hair?

 

[Alpabuck]

Not sure if E hille.........Im pretty sure I got my last batch from Rod, it worked great for the Hexagenia wings for the epic hatch on the LL last year!