Tricos on the ‘Horn
Marc Williamson and I fished Montana’s Bighorn yesterday (9/9/15). There was a Trico hatch and spinner fall that was incredible. Biggest I’ve ever seen. The duns were on the water from daylight to about 8:30 am. They also hatch at night, so we were probably on the tail end of the emergence. Marc and I floated and fished during the emergence and took some nice fish. After the hatch, we set up on a long shallow riffle that dumped into one of the Bighorn’s many long, deep pools. The air was alive with the spinners, literally millions of them; size 22. When they started to come down in serious numbers, we started to spot feeding fish. I took 5 trout on a size 22 Trico: 2 of them 17,” 1 was 18,” and 2 more 19”; Marc had his share, too. They were in very shallow riffle water at the edge (The Secret River); I would clearly see each fish when it rose and spotted a couple in the water, even though it was riffly. One fish was only 6 feet from shore in water not over 6 inches deep. I fished straight up to it, delivering the fly on a curve cast. It was great fun to watch the entire process of the fly drifting down, and the fish’s confident take. Of course seeing a size 22 Trico spinner in riffle water is really impossible, so I used a size 16, Elk Hair Caddis as a marker fly, hanging the Trico off the bend of the Caddis. It worked very well.
Yes, all those white dots are Tricos’ The sky was alive with them.
And when they fell, the water was blanketed with them.
Why would trout eat such tiny insects? Because there are so many of them. But they have to rise many times, giving the angler many opportunities for a hook up.
