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Trico Dun
A dry fly, tied #20–24, a summer pattern. It is tied against 1 named insect in this book — July–September.
A very small parachute dry fly for the first-light window before the spinner fall, a window that runs under an hour. It is tied on a standard dry-fly hook in sizes 20 through 24 with black 14/0 thread: pale dun microfibbets for the tail, a body of black dubbing for the male or pale olive for the female, a white poly wing post, and a size-appropriate grizzly hackle wound parachute around it, so the fly sits flush while the post stays visible against the early light. It is tied against the trico, Tricorythodes spp., a mayfly of July through September in water from 58 to 72 degrees. It is fished at first light on August mornings, on 6X at the very least and more often 7X — at these hook sizes the tippet is as much a part of the presentation as the dressing. A summer fly, carried for trout.
- #20–24Hook size
- dry flyType
- SummerSeason
- 1Hatch matched
What it looks like
A drawing, not a photograph, and not traced from one. Its proportions were read off 5 independent reference photographs of the pattern and written down as 5 measured characteristics — wing angle, tail length against the shank, how far a hackle fibre reaches — every one of which had to hold across more than one of them before it could be drawn. What survives across many photographs of a fly is the fly.
What it imitates
Each of these is the same hatch record the app's own panel reads, so a pattern recommended on a river card in the app is recommended for one of the insects below.
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | Standard dry-fly hook, sizes 20–24 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 14/0 |
| Tail | Pale dun microfibbets |
| Body | Black dubbing (male) or pale olive (female) |
| Wing post | White poly, parachute |
| Hackle | Grizzly, parachute, size-appropriate |
When to fish it
First light on August mornings. 6X at the very least, and more often 7X.
A summer pattern. The insects it matches are active july–september, in water from 58°F to 72°F.
Target species
- Trout
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Saint Croix River northern Wisconsin · July mean 77.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
- Abb Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Griffith's Gnat dry fly · #18–24 — A cluster of midges in one fly. The winter dry, and the answer to unexplained sippers.
- Trico Spinner dry fly · #20–24 — Black body, white spent wings. Mid-morning, 7X, and a lot of patience.
- Adams (Catskill) dry fly · #12–20 — The original. Rides higher than the parachute in broken water.
- CDC Caddis dry fly · #14–20 — Lower in the film than an Elk Hair. For flat water and educated fish.
- Elk Hair Caddis dry fly · #12–20 — Floats forever, skates on command, works when nothing is hatching.