I've got two fly fishing authors that paint the trike hatch in words for me...Hemingway and Marinaro:


"As far down the river as he could see, the trout were rising, making circles all down the surface of the water, as though it were starting to rain."-E.H. Big Two Hearted River


"As far as the eye could see,several hundred yards at least, the entire surface of the water was a mass of dimpling rise forms, occurring and recurring with increasing tempo as the evening advanced." V. Marinaro...A Modern Dry Fly Code.


The Trike hatch is my favorite fly fishing experience. I catch fish after fish after fish during the spinner fall....all my black and whites have always had tails as long as I could find and I never had a problem attracting or hooking a trout.


Size is all important, and be mindful that the bugs get smaller as the hatch progressive. When the fish are on #28 you're not going to do very well on #20. Here's a bowl full of #24...note the tails.