Trico's

[Chappy]

Hi,

As I came into work today, I notices a Trico Mayfly on the door. My what a tiny yet brilliantly featured little bug.

It made me think to a couple of outings - Fish Pond and Echo Lake where fish were boiling but we saw nothing coming off. Was it a Trico hatch? I don't think so since we didn't see shucks on the surface and although they are small they can be seen if they are hatching. (I really think a Glossoma caddis or similar was taking place - when these tiny little swimmer under the surface film ris from the bottom and then swim to shore. This is why a fly sitting still in the surface or film doesn't get hit. And it explains why there are no empty shucks on the surface.)

With that said, has anyone really fished a Trico hatch? Does anyone really swear by a specific Trico pattern? I always use a beaten up or reduced dress dk gray CDC caddis size 18 to simulate anything under a size 20 bug on the surface or in the film.

Curious to see if there are other observations out there.

[fessiewig]

So . . . when you're fishing a Glossoma Caddis hatch, how do you fish it and what pattern do you use.

I have fished a Trico with a simple pattern of 2 long tails, white body, black thorax, and white (or clear if you can find some) poly yarn wings straight out on each side.

[Chappy]

Hi John,

Great question. It wasn't until a few years ago on the Merrimack in Boscawen (near where I live) that I finally figured it out. You will not see a glossoma caddis hatch coming off the water. But you will see fish breaking the surface and boiling. These little critters move at least 4-10 inches per second. They are at best a size 18 with a dark head and a cream body. They have been the source of much aggravation throughout my life growing up in Laconia and fishing the Winnipesaukee river shed.

It is the hatch that isn't. You will see them near shore but nowhere near the volumes of the Alder (Zebra caddis) that you find in the bushes of the Newfound or Andro. They are quite small.

The problem is they will typically rise from the bottom in the riffles and be at the surface film at the same locations that mayflies and other emergers break the water surface and fly away - when the water slacks up. So this is why it is annoying as you might think the fish are so finicky - as where you have cuaght fish before - now nothing because you are not imitating what the are eating and chasing.

A dead drift of anything will not work. You must strip the fly across the current so it is moving at least 3-6 inches per second. This can be very frustrating and it is best to have nothing bigger than a size 18 max and 6X fluoro. Problem is you hope a fish hits it in between strips or else you might miss the fish or leave the fly in the fish (or a line break).

When I encountered this, I took some small olive midge patterns and had a few hits and I also took a small dry fly and trimmed the hackle and wings off. I was anchored perfectly in the river with the canoe with not a sole nearby. So I performed a DOE (design of experiments). I found that best fly is a size 18 curved pupa hook with cream (ice dub) body wrapped ropedubbed style for durability. Then some loose rusty brown ice dub for the head. Don't bother with legs. Similar to the pattern in Tom Ames book on Eastern Fly Hatches.

The fly had to be moving. I boated and released 6 browns no bigger than 12 inches. I had another 18-20 hits. I lost 6 flies due to fish breakage. I performed massive fly conversions as I didn't have any of the Glossoma patterns that I described above. Two fish were over 16 inches as I saw the head when I missed it. Dead drifting did not work!! I was hoping it would since I know I would'nt lose so many bites. But it was crazy - like stripping a wolly bugger across the current but in this case I had a strand of silk on the line. Oh, did I mention that the fish hammered the flies if you got the movement down right.

This happened 3-4 years agos and it is still as vivid as ever. What an event!! And not a single bug hatched from the water I was fishing. I have seen simialr occurences in ponds and lakes. Although they might not be glossoma, they are a related caddis that hatch from shore after "playing" in the film.

Tight Lines.

[fessiewig]

Thanks for the info Chappie. I'll tie up a couple of those flies and put them in my box and the next time I see that kind of action I'll give it a try.

[mtnzone]

Awesome post chappy!!! wealth of info that one