Michigan trico

[m_grieb 0]

I'm thinking I will be going to fish on the manistee this weekend and I know the trico hatch is on right now. I'm having a hard time with understanding the relationship between the size, color, and sex of these bugs.i am trying to tie some up before I go but I'm not sure what color combinations I need to use on what size. Could anybody help me out or direct me to a link that will help me out?

[Henrik Thomsen (DK) 0]

I fo not now about the tricos in your area.

But here in Scandinavia I would go to size 18 or smaller. Tails 2-3 times as long as the body. Hvite body, black thorax and some very small vings made of fibers from cdc.

Thorax could be black razor foam.

[utyer 0]

I tie a black and white Trico from just white thread, organza ribbon, the thorax is a single flue of black wood duck body feather. The ribbon can be unraveled into individual strands (like tiny mono filament. Use 2 or 3 tails, I like mine at least 2X the body length. The wings are made from several strands of the organza. The abdomen is a fine as I can make it from the white thread. The thorax is the flue of black cross wrapped between the wing fibers. I use 12/0 thread. I tie mine on size 24 or 26 hooks.

 

. .

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

mine is the same as Utyer except I use micro fibit tails and uv ice dub in black or blue

[Henrik Thomsen (DK) 0]

Please find my example here.

Size: 21

Body: Fly-rite white tied in in the one end of the fibers and then twisted to a rope to give a segmented body, I could have used a bit more fly-rite.

Thorax: Black Razor foam

Vings: CDC hackle.

 

I use the CDC hackle as vings to give some more live and transparency.

 

[m_grieb 0]

So why does everybody tie spinner patterns instead of dun patterns?

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

the spent wings help hold the fly up in the film and when tying that small an upright wing will only turn the fly on the side

[Piker20 0]

I've found anything slim and short bodied works. I've also found a pearl tinsel bodied spider with very sparse hackle in upto #14 works which I always think the fish take as an emerger or a sparkly clump of caenis or something as the naturals are only around # 18 or #20

[Henrik Thomsen (DK) 0]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' data-author="m_grieb" data-cid="558343" data-time="1374166992"><p>

So why does everybody tie spinner patterns instead of dun patterns?</p></blockquote>

 

That would be because of the very fast hatching of these flies.

They literally shoots out of the water, and sometimes goes from dun to spinner in a matter of minutes after hatching. And then back onto the water.

All mayflies are en danish called day-flies because they live only for one day as adults (a bended truth).

In that termology the tricos could be called 10-minutes-fly... ;-)

 

/Henrik

[tricochaser 0]

The best book on the subject is called "TRICOS" written by Bob Miller, published by RodCrafters Press, Allentown, Pa..

Printed in 1997. Based on the Little Lehigh stream which has a great trico hatch.

The duns usually come off very early in the morning. The spinners start to fly around 8 AM and the swarm ends around 2-4 hrs later based on how hot the day is.

From my experience the duns only count for a very small amount of time of fish activity. Very early in AM, usually better to use a nymph or emerger.

In the above book, he gives excellent instruction on how to ty duns as well as the rest.

 

Tight lines

[tricochaser 0]

The size of the dry fly hook will depend on how big the tricos are on your stream. Maybe anywhere fr #18 to # 26.

Early in the season, the trico size is a little larger. But as the season goes on - the size will get smaller -#26

The female has a white body, very slim. The male has a black body, very slim. The thorax is usually black and on the meaty side.

Wings are spent and can be anything fr CDC, feather tips or plastic. Its what you can tie the best with. Females have two long tails and males have two shorter tails. Females fall usually first, then the males. You have to see what the trout are on to.

Tippets down to size 7x or 8x, esp when the trout are finicky.

Pick a fish thats working and keep casting to about a foot in front. Try and pattern the fishes rises.

 

Tight lines and many hook ups

[cassady 0]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' data-author="m_grieb" data-cid="558343" data-time="1374166992"><p>

So why does everybody tie spinner patterns instead of dun patterns?</p></blockquote>

 

That would be because of the very fast hatching of these flies.

They literally shoots out of the water, and sometimes goes from dun to spinner in a matter of minutes after hatching. And then back onto the water.

All mayflies are en danish called day-flies because they live only for one day as adults (a bended truth).

In that termology the tricos could be called 10-minutes-fly... ;-)

 

/Henrik

 

Also note that the females (green abdomen) hatch in the morning, while the males (black abdomen) hatch at night. As someone noted, they don't spend much time on the water, so often an emerger works best during the hatch. Once the females have dumped their (green) eggs, their abdomens turn white.

 

cass

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Dennis Potter, who lives in Grand Rapids and is a very well-known and respected professional tyer and who specializes in Michigan patterns, ties his Tricos in sizes 22-26 on Tiemco 2488 short-shank, wide-gap dry fly hooks. White EP fibers for the wings, thorax of black dubbing, abdomen of small Mirage opal tinsel (not to be confused with pearlescent tinsel - there is a difference), split white microfibbet tails. I've heard him speak on several occasions of fish moving well out of their feeding lanes to take the opal-bodied trico when standard white-bodied version failed.

[hairwing 0]

I've never had much luck fishing the Trike emergence. Seems like the fish wait for the spinners and when they fall the whole river is nothing but rings. Mating happens when the sun hits the water (9-10 am). Spinner falls can last for different lengths of time depending on wind and weather conditions.

You need the correct size fly. You also need a good presentation. As far as the cast goes, try to get a rising fly line and leader so that the leader will fall with some slack. It's also easier to spot these small flies from 30-50 ft. if the fly hovers slightly before dropping to the water. If you can work a curve in the cast all the better. Be careful you don't pull the slack out of the presentation by mending the line on the water. It's best to do all your fancy stuff in the air and leave it alone and let it drift. Check out Pile and Puddle casts on the web.

My tackle goes like this: 9ft-6 wt. graphite rod, floating line, and about a 12-14 foot leader tapered to 6x or 7x. Helps if the tippet is about 30" long for it to puddle well.

Here's a bowl full of the flies I use. These are #24.

mustad 94840

white poly wing

black fly rite dubbing

dark dun hackle tail

[m_grieb 0]

Thanks a lot. I just came back from the fish and I had plenty of success. Had an awesom time.