Well I’ve already requested ideas for trico emergers. Does anyone want to share a TRICO NYMPH PATTERN?. From the lack of responses I presume not too many people fish trico emergers or nymphs.
Ginseng, have any ideas or patterns?
Thanks
lastchance,
I don’t fish nymphs much for tricos, but I’ve had some luck using flashback pheaseant tail nymphs (size 18-24) just below the surface or in the film during trico hatches when I was having trouble getting fish on duns. (I’ve never used weighted versions or fished them deeper with micro shot for Tricos, but that could work too I suppose) They’re good Baetis imitations in those sizes as well and I often fish them as a dropper (1 size smaller) under a BWO.
IMHO the most critical thing is matching the size of the tricos onstream which can vary a lot rather than having a very realistic pattern that’s off a size, so having a bunch of sizes of the same pattern that will “do double duty” (on Tricos and Baetis) makes sense to me.
Good luck, looking forward to see what other folks use.
peregrines
tiny pheasant tail nymphs should work
And Rs2 or WD40 would also work right in the surface film…
Since I’ve done so well this year with Trico emergers and spinners I’d like to give the nymphs a try. The PT nymphs are too dark to use as trico nymphs for my liking. I’m obessessive about getting as close as possible to the imitations of the bugs I fish. I realize it’s not always necessary. I guess I’m looking for a dubbing combination that will work. also, what is used for wing cases, hook style, etc. I was curious to see if there were any nymph patterns out there and anyone that fished them.
GOOGLE em up!!
Normand: I tried GOOGLE and haven’t found anything.
Swisher and Richards have a good description in “Selective Trout”. Might add it to your bookshelf it its not already there. Cheers.
Try a WD-40 in a size 20 or smaller…
I just read Sylvester Nemes “The Soft-Hackled Fly” 2nd Edition where he has a chapter dedicated to Trico soft-hackles. You might consider picking it up for some ideals.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Terry
Thanks, DarkKnight: I’ll have to look for it.
- Trico article on flyfisherman website. Non of the big names use a nymph. Barr suggests uses a sunken spinner after the mornining dunns
Hi okflyfisher: I read that article and it’s a good one. Probably 1 out of a 1,000 people fish nymphs or emergers during a trico hatch. I’ve done really well this year and last year with emergers fished about 3 to 12 inches below the surface. That’s why I’d like to try a nymph. I’m finding out through this forum that not many people fish trico nymphs.
Thanks
The best to You!
That’s THIS year’s article on Tricos in Fly Fisherman. Since similar articles appear every year if you wait a few years; Trico nymphs will be in again. 
I fish Tricos almost every day once they start in my area. Nothing is absolute and the fish really change their preference as the hatch progress over the course of its several month duration.
I START with a #24 on 7X and go through presentation, tippet and fly changes till I get them to cooperate. Included in my arsenal are Trico nymphs, emergers, spinners, and duns; floating and sinking; singles & clusters; male & female and transgender…
…just in case. :shock:
I have a decent pattern. It is by Chauncey Lively. I’ll see if I can dig it up for you.
Lastchance & Bamboozle - The Trico nymph pattern Chauncy Lively illustrates in his book, on page 17, is basically a P.T. nymph with brown fur or synthetic thorax. The tail & abdomen are P.T. fibers with a gold wire rib and the wingcase & legs are also made with P.T. fibers. He ties it on a #20 1xs hook. Is that the one you (Bamboozle) are referring to?
BadBug:
Tis it!
I just found it in a binder of Chauncy patterns I collected from old back issues of the Pennsylvania Angler. That particular pattern was featured in April of 1976!
:shock:
Mr. Lively’s Trico nymph is basically a dinky PT except I tie mine in size 24-28.
Thanks, Bamboozle: I’d appreciate the nymph pattern and even your emerger patterns. You can send them PM if you’d like. I can’t understand why more people don’t fish nymphs and emergers. I’ve been fishing them from just after daylight until the spinnerfall. If there’s no spinnerfall then I keep right on going with high sticking. I appreciate the Trico hatch more each year. I guess it’s the challenge it presents. If you’d like my emerger patterns I’ve posted it on this thread.
Bruce
Lastchance:
I?ll quote Chauncey?s Trico Nymph directions, (with modifications) since my attempt to scan the article and pictures wasn?t satisfactory. It is basically a Pheasant Tail Nymph with muskrat guard hairs for a tail and a brown fur thorax.
I hope I don’t bore you or others with the step-by-step instructions:[ul]
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Clamp in a size 20, (I use a size 24 mostly) hook in vise and bind fine black thread to shank behind eye. Select 6-8 brown fibers from a ring neck pheasant tail feather and tie in behind eye with the tips protruding forward past the eye of the hook about the length of the hook shank.
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With the fibers positioned on top of the shank; wind thread halfway back to bend. Then pull fibers upright and take a turn behind them to secure them in the upright position.
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Leaving the upright fibers behind; wind thread back to bend. For tails select three brownish muskrat guard hairs and tie in at bend. Spread tails and make a turn of thread underneath and against the base of tails to keep them splayed. Tails should be slightly longer than the shank.
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Select two pheasant tail fibers and tie in at bend along with a length of fine gold wire. Then with the thread; build up a slightly tapered underbody for the abdomen and wind thread to base of upright pheasant tail fibers at middle of hook.
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Twist the two rearward pheasant tail fibers together and wind forward clockwise to form abdomen. Tie off at middle of shank just past the upright fibers at the middle of the hook.
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Wind the gold wire forward counterclockwise in spaced turns as ribbing and tie off at the same location as the abdomen fibers.
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Apply fine brown dubbing to thread and wind dubbing forward to form a thorax and tie off behind eye.
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Split the pheasant tail fiber tips protruding forward into two equal halves and press along sides to form legs. For the wing case; pull the vertical fibers at the midpoint of the hook forward and down over the thorax and tie off at eye. Whip finish head.[/ul]
For an emerger; I just tie this same nymph starting at the rear of the hook with a FEW brown Antron fibers instead of the muskrat tails. Tie in the 2 pheasant tail fibers and gold wire and wind the fibers to the midpoint followed by the wire.
I then dub a thorax with DARK brown dubbing and top it off with a tiny puff of CDC tied in like the wing on an Elk Wing Caddis. I tie it off the same way as an EWC leaving the stubby end of the cut off CDC puff.
I fish it by first wetting the Antron fibers and then applying some Frog Fanny to the CDC. This makes it ride with the Antron down; CDC up, hanging in the film. It doesn?t float long but it only takes one cast if they are looking for it.
A couple of other things that work for me when the fish get picky:[ul]
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Sinking spinners made with a black or white abdomen made of FINE black or white Ultra Wire.
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A size 18 hook with three spinner bodies tied on it to imitate a cluster of Tricos. I also will sometimes just thread on an extra Trico spinner on my tippet instead of using the size 18.
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Spinners tied with just one wing to imitate spinners I see with both wings folded together.
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Spinners tied with a single strand of black Crystal flash at the front of the spent wing to imitate the dark leading edge of the natural’s wing.
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Spinners tied with variations in wing materials from just Crystal Flash or just poly to mixes of Crystal Flash & poly or just hackle fibers.[/ul]
Sometimes with so many flies on the water it is hard to get the trout to select your imitation. It is at those times I suspect that the fish key in on certain aspects of the natural just to annoy me. So when the fishing gets tough; I?ll try some of these variations and see if I can figure out a particular fish?s preference.
I LOVE fishing the Tricos with all the trials and tribulations in miniature! When all else fails I just move on to another dumber fish.
Have fun!
Hey Boo…I thank you for the nice instructions…but I thank you even mor for the good laugh at the end: “When all else fails I just move on to another dumber fish.”
Gotta remember that next time I’m out slapping the same stretch of water!
Jim:
“Moving to a moron” is my Fly Fishing Strategy Tip #43 
I basically fish two types of streams: those with lots of actively feeding fish and those with a few sporadic risers.
At the streams with few active fish; I will often be camped out by a pool smoking a stogie and sipping some whisky working over a likely candidate for as long as it takes to either scare the $#!+ out of him or fool him.
The streams with lots of feeding fish is where I can get into trouble. If I keep my wits about me and remember that the next imbecile is just around the bend or in the next pool; I’ll keep moving and usually catch fish all day.
My problems begin when I decide that Salmo einstein is gonna get caught no matter how long it takes instead of moving on to Salmo moronicus in the next pool who is rising furiously to Tricos, bits of leaves & sticks, duck feathers and various other flotsam like a starving koi in a pond.