It’s Trico time! If this isn’t your favorite insect to imitate as a fly angler, we should talk… Silver Creek is percolating again due to the massive Trico Spinner Falls that have begun every morning. The Trico hatches in the wee hours of the morning and then comes back to the water by the millions for the spinner falls once the morning air temps hit 70 degrees. The cooler mornings mean a slower start, but also less wind. The warmer mornings start quick, but can be interrupted by morning breezes.
On a perfect morning, the Trico will be present from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. The spinner falls is intense and brings up huge pods of fish that will seemingly eat everything but your fly. Place your Trico as quietly and delicately as you can right in front of the fish’s nose. Next bug in line, next bug in line, next bug in line, should be your mantra.
The Trico always ends with a 30-minute Baetis Spinner Falls. You will know this is happening because they will be crawling all over you. The Trico really could care less about you; the Baetis like to use you to crawl to the bottom and lay some eggs. If you float tube and wonder what all the spots on your tube are when you’re done fishing, it’s millions upon millions of Baetis eggs.
We will see a lull in the action after the morning. Things start back up again after lunch with Callibaetis and Hopper fishing. All the frustration of fishing tiny flies all morning can now be replaced by fishing large Callibaetis patterns up to a 16 as well as splatting big foam Hoppers on the banks.
Pay special attention to the weed beds as well. There will be Damselflies on the exposed beds at the surface. Rainbows like to hot lap these weed beds looking for a morsel. Also pay close attention to the feeding lane immediately downstream from the weed beds. This is where fish will wait for the weak and dying Damsels to float down to them.
A reminder for you: Fish 6X on all your Mayfly patterns like Trico, Callibaetis and Baetis (PMDs too). Fish 3X or 4X on Damselflies depending on how voracious the fish are acting. Fish 2X fluorocarbon on all your Hoppers. Fish are not leader shy on Hoppers. One more time: Fish are NOT leader shy on Hoppers.
Happy fishing, everyone!