Tricos on Oatka

Tricos are going strong right now.

Fishing early with all this heat will prove to be a wise decision until it starts to cool off a bit. Right now the fish are starting just at sunrise, taking the many duns that are coming off. Then at some point, only known to them, the trout will change to spinners. And for now, that will end about 9:00-9:30am.

Remember this will be one of the best hatches of the year! Of course you will have to fish smaller flies - like a size #20-#24. But the rewards are so worth it. At times the fishing can be as crazy or more so than any early season hatch. So be ready and be willing to change and adjust often.

Start early in the morning with a dun or emerger pattern. I have had success with a female dun pattern in a size #20. Then as the morning wears on watch the fish. When the rise forms change then that means you need to change! It most likely will be to a spinner pattern.

If you have the chance to continue fishing after a major trico spinner fall....do it! The opportunity to adjust your learning curve will be rewarded with some fantastic fishing. Look for fish below the surface taking submerged spinners. Also look for fish taking small midge larvae and nymphs along the bottom. Just because fish stop feeding off the surface doesn't mean they stop feeding all together. Most of the time these fish will go back to their comfort zone and feed on anything that comes there way. These fish sit in spots that consistently funnel food to them, such as a current break or more often than not a cut in the stream bed or bottom of the stream. This can get very technical, as it may take many changes in weight, flies, and position to get the right drift. But when you find it, that drift may produce fish after fish. So stick with it!

I took the kids out last week for a little adventure and we all had fun taking some nice fish after the hatch.

Jonathan did very well for himself with two fish landed and several others hooked and lost. The rest of us had fun hooking a few and returning them back to their home after they were revived. It was a great morning!