Euro - Nymphing the Trico Spinner Fall

**wwelz** · 09-13-2010, 09:15 AM

The Bighorn has 7000 fish per mile in the upper section. I read this on a Montana state publication. I have no idea if this is true but I know the quality and the quantity of this fishery presents the angler with a fantastic learning environment. The pressure to catch fish is gone. I have been landing twenty to forty fish per day. The river's Brown and Rainbow trout are everywhere. They are not howerver - no brainer hatchery fish. These wild trout were born on the gravel beds of the Bighorn and can be very challenging. My goal when I fish here is to improve my skills . I am always trying new tactics. The fish provide instant feedback on presentation and fly selection. I know I am messing up when I present my flies to five or ten feeding fish with zero takers . The learning environment allows you to alter your tactics until eventually you get it right and then test the results on subsequent days. Yesterday the Trico spinner fall was a learning event or me.

The day was warm mild and calm. The Tricos were everywhere. I fished a size 20 Trico dun with an over sized white cdc wing as an indicator and a size 22 poly trico spinner attached to the bend of the hook with three feet of 5x. I caught some fish and was happy that I had not totally forgot how to dry fly fish. The spinner fall progressed for some time. I got to this water and decided to try something diferent.

The fish were crowded into this very small area . They were porpoising for Trico spinners in about ten inches of water.

I took out the Loop rod with the Euro rig to see if I could get these fish on a drowned Trico dropper. I had a sized 14 bead head in the bottom anchor position and a size twenty black bead head as the dropper. This presentation was a total and complete failure. After about twenty casts and not even a nudge I began to wonder if I could pull this off. I switched my rigging to a size 16 anchor with a 2.4 mm bead in the upper position and tied on an unweighted size twenty black Trico thirty inches below
the anchor. Instant reward. I landed five or six fish in about twenty minutes. The spinner fall subsided and the fish retreated to deeper water. I am sure a good dry fly fishermen could have caught many more
fish the traditional way but I had fun trying something new for me.

**Esopus Guy** · 09-13-2010, 06:59 PM

Good stuff right there.. Thanks for sharing. 8)

**wwelz** · 09-13-2010, 09:12 PM

Your welcome - The contributors to this web site have helped me become a better fisherman. I like to pay back when I can.

**Davyfly** · 09-14-2010, 11:07 PM

wwelz,

Great report.
Trico hatches are great fun and at times can be very frustrating.
I would have fished micro soft hackles, 20/22s to 6x, as l love to nail fish that way, dead drift methods, two fly rig.
There are many other options such as a two dry combo, a larger dry around size 14, 2ft from that the trico dry/emerger, the larger dry is your indicator all be it may be taken, often as not in that popply water it is not easy to see either your fly or a fish take it.
Seems l need to get back to the BH river, the Madison fished very bad this year from all reports l have had.
One of my friends fished a guide trip for 3 small fish, and he is a good angler, way too much pressure on this river nowdays and it is beginning to show in the average returns for fish numbers caught.

Davy.

**wwelz** · 09-15-2010, 06:58 AM

Davy- I tied the Trico pattern with a CDC collar tied Petijean style. I trim the CDC to the width of the hook gap prior to inserting into the split thread. I know you are not a fan of CDC for drys but I can make a very sparse CDC collar only two and one half turns which may or may not be similar in concept to a micro hackle. Also the word here on the Madison is that work on the dam adversely effected the water temperature of the river ,causing the river to be much warmer than usual.

**Davyfly** · 09-15-2010, 11:05 PM

wweltz.

This is my favorite dry. A black or gray thread body with a palmered grizzled or white hackle, use the thread for the reverse rib 20/22/24 Cream thread body can also be good

Soft hackle is same body with either grizzled or gray dun hen hackle, 20/22.

Both the above are also good for midge fishing. Chironomids.

Frankly l do not believe the Madison holds as many fish as it once did, and the average size is way down.
I know a large rock damaged the dam at Ennis lake and they lowered the lake level to determine the damage.
Last year they has the issue of the Hebgen lake dam, which was at the time l was there.

Seems like you are having a great time.

Davy.

**Planettrout** · 09-17-2010, 10:40 AM

Davyfly,

A friend of mine who lives on the Madison reported this, today, on another forum I visit...

"This year has been pretty stranger weather with not much of a summer to speak of and fishing has been spotty at best. I have been bar tending at a local resort and have listened to many of the guides complaining about the fishing this year. Seems that the dam break and work to fix it has been one of the main causes. Instead of the normal cold water flowing from Hegben, the water is coming over the spillway and has raised the temp about 10 degrees higher than normal. Now that the weather has started to cool fishing has gotten a little more active but you really have to hunt. I actually got out twice in the last week and had pretty awesome days compared to the rest of the year. That actually means 10 to 12 fish this year in comparison to 20 to 30 fish days before. Most of my fish have been taken on VERY small nymphs. Anyway, nothing over 18" for me this season."

That is her take...

PT/TB