Thick with Tricos

Yes, we fished today. Even though it was very cold. Cold to us who still are wearing shorts and sandals and wet wading. It was about 49 degrees with a promise from the Internet weatherman to get up to the low 60's. The weather forecast is for warmer weather in a couple days, perhaps in the low 70's. We went out this morning around 11:00 and encountered many others in hopes of hooking a big one.

When we got to where we wanted to fish we saw maybe 4 boats there and upriver. Tim Tollett was helping a couple guys catch some nice fish and we enjoyed watching for a little while. There were a few fish working on the home bank and we had fun trying for them. Tim said he'd be on the move soon and he was after his clients caught a couple fish each. He was there first and didn't have to move for us. We don't own that spot, but he knows we like certain places. What a nice guy. I had to kid with him when his client hooked a big fish that kept going into the far current, just a little deeper than he was able to go with his waist-high waders. I encouraged him to go after the fish and he said "yeah, you could come and help me."

The tricos were in the air and I can't help but be amazed at the number of teeny tiny bugs clustered together forming clouds. It's hard to describe unless you've experienced it. It's like a snow storm and sort of like tiny hail hitting you in the hat and ears when the wind blows. It was like confetti with a mind of it's own. The clouds of tricos would swarm, but mostly they got blown about. We did not dare open our mouths and we tried not to inhale deeply through our nose. It was amazing, and perhaps tomorrow I'll try to get some more photos like the others I shared a couple days ago.

With a one day life cycle, they hatch, mate, come to the water to lay their eggs, and then die, becoming spinners. The clouds of tricos were thick today (just like a light snow blizzard) and then suddenly they were a blanket of little airplanes on the river. It was like a confetti flow of tiny white airplanes, wings outstretched. I'll try to get some photos of the carpet of tricos tomorrow also. The fish loved them!

A boat drifted by as I had hooked and was landing a nice size brown, and the person rowing said "Crazy!" I'm not sure if he was commenting on the brown jumping out of the water or me fishing in my shorts!

I fished with a size 20 spinner and attached a smaller BWO emerger behind it. I caught a few fish on the spinner and also a couple on the emerger. And once again Rick made sure I was in the best spot while he was busy changing flies, going from dry to nymph and then back to what I was using. I walked a fish to the bank and asked Rick to move into my spot. He moved and caught a couple nice trout and we were both happy. The wind put a nice upstream chop on the water and we could not see our flies nor the rising fish.

The wind had been blowing from the south, and remember the promise of warmer temps? Well, the wind shifted and blew colder from the north, making casting no fun at all. We both said 10 more minutes and when time was up we were ready to head back. Only a couple hours of fishing today, but we spent the rest of the afternoon in our warm, cozy mobile fishing lodge. Happy to have caught fish and happy to be warm.

I've looked at the hourly forecast for tomorrow and at 9:00 AM it's supposed to be a balmy 42 degrees. But the wind is supposed to be almost nothing. We'll find our warm jackets and hopefully not have to fight the wind. Just the cold.