PDA

View Full Version : help with trico's!!!!



steve sullivan
06-17-2006, 12:06 AM
I am seriously ignorant on tricos!! I have googled them but not found good information on them (just shops with 1000 flies one of them being a trico, which would take 10 minutes to find.

Even tho trico's are mayflies, do they flutter like caddis? At night I have seen small black flies fluttering in a huge group by the bank, are these tricos? A easy trico pattern I found is just a black white elk hair caddis pattern with a black body and (hackle??) tied at a 45 degree angle down for legs. I lost the pix, what should I use for the body? Can someone direct me to other resources? What should I use for trico nymphs?

Hairstacker
06-17-2006, 02:15 AM
Hi Steve, as you may or may not know, "Trico" is short for "Tricorythodes," which you may also want to do a Yahoo/Google search on for more information.

You're right, they're mayflies and they go through the typical mayfly stages -- i.e., nymph, emerger, dun and spinner. Since they emerge from clinger-style nymphs, you could imitate the nymph stage with a hare's ear nymph, assuming you want to imitate it at all -- they cling to the bottom so effectively, they're seldom available to trout except during periods of "biological drift," which typically happens at night.

The duns and spinners can be imitated with any standard, typically trim, mayfly patterns for these stages, including parachute-style for the duns. Tricos typically range in size from about a size 16 or 18 to as small as a size 24 or 26, depending on location, with flies out here in the West tending toward the larger sizes.

The duns typically have a black thorax and an abdomen color that ranges from very dark to an almost light ginger and/or greenish color. The imitations I've seen typically follow these color schemes, most notably ensuring that the thorax is tied black. I would suggest you simply use fine black dry fly dubbing for the thorax on size 18's and larger, and just use black thread to form the thorax on size 20's and smaller. For the abdomen, it will depend on the color variation you're seeing locally. Regardless, you can simply use a fine dry fly dubbing tied thin, like you typically would for any other mayfly. For lighter, ginger/greenish-colored abdomens, you could also try quills. Tails and wings can be tied with white, since white will probably best imitate the natural, although I've seen pictures of some naturals whose tails looked very close to a very light blue dun color. Maybe this is why some tyers prefer a light dun for the tail color -- probably either color would work just as well.

For the spinners, any typical mayfly spinner imitation in the right size will do, with an all black body for both the thorax and abdomen and with white wings and tails. It's my impression that more folks fish the spinner fall than any other stage of tricos.

Darian
06-17-2006, 12:59 PM
Steve,.... If you enjoy reading, there'resevearl bools that include references to Tricorythodes Mayflies (Trico's), both insects/patterns. 8) 8)

Among these books are "Acquatic Insects of California" by Usinger, "Trout Flies, The Tier's Reference" by Dave Hughes and "Selective trout" by Doug Swisher and Carl Richards. 8) 8)

These books also contain info about all of the acquatic insects of this state and others.

Happy reading.... :D :D :D

J.R.
06-17-2006, 01:52 PM
Hey Darian, I was wondering if you could tell me any where I can pick a copy of "Aquatic Insects of California" and how old it is, like the year it was published, etc.

Darian
06-17-2006, 11:25 PM
J.R.,... Usingers book is from the University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles and was originally copyraighted in 1956. My version is dated 1968. This is an academic tome and may still be in use at UC. If not availbale from there, try library's or maybe Amazon :?: :?: :?: I bought mine thru the San Mateo County Library in 1969. 8) 8)

StevenOjai
06-19-2006, 09:11 PM
Hi Steve,

You might want to check out my site pertaining to trico spinners. There is a tutorial showing John Bett's version of a female Trico Spinner.
http://stevenojai.tripod.com/trispin.htm

As Hairstacker mentioned...spinners are what most of us concentrate on with tricos. They usually start around July and continue to early October. You'll find your best spinner falls on the lower reaches of streams or slow-moving Spring Creeks. Hat Creek is famous for it's trico hatch. Trico's seem to withstand silty and off-color water better than most mayflies, so you'll find them here rather than headwaters or fast-moving freestone creeks. I tend to find most in the size 20-26. The fall is not always noticeable but, if you see trout hitting the surface around 10:00 am , without any noticeable insect activity, the spinner fall is probably occuring.
Famous pics are often on the internet showing these massive clouds of white-winged tricos with the sun glistening from their wings. In actuality, it doesn't often happen that way.. :)
The trico has a common nickname, "White Wing Curse" . Probably, due to the fact that they are so damn small. Try a small Renegade. This will appear as a small cluster to the trout.

Regards, Steve

Hairstacker
06-19-2006, 11:30 PM
Just wanted to add that I was glancing at my current issue of Fly Rod and Reel magazine just now and noticed a whole article on tricos -- worth checking out for futher info.

I only glanced at the article so far but noted it does say that nymph fishing can be deadly during periods of emergence. The article also noted that the duns are kind of porky as far as mayflies go. . . . I never noticed this myself when looking at photographs of 'em but I guess it's true when you really look at them:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/Sachlil/trico_dun.jpg