Trico – (Tricorythodes minutus)
Tricos hatch as early as July and as late as November depending on the river and air temperatures. They can often be seen mating above the rivers in great clouds and up to 50 feet above the surface.
Once finished mating, the males fall back to the water, and the females do as well once they are ready to lay their eggs. This is often when trout are found gorging this species, which occurs in the morning hours during the summer months and closer to mid-day later in the year.
Tricos live in silty river bottoms and are most abundant in slow-moving waters like below tailouts of deep, slow pools.
Trout will set up in the slow-moving current and steadily rise in a rhythmic pattern taking full advantage of this copious amount of food. Larger trout are often at the end of the slow run, so ensure your terminal tackle and casts are on-point before targeting these smarter fish. Trout gorging on tricos are notoriously picky, so our Bozeman, Montana fishing guides will have plenty of patterns on hand to try.
Tricos thrive in sunshine, so seeing thick clouds of small insects swarming over a slow section of river on a sunny day will give you a good clue as to what patterns to try next.
The emergence and spinner fall of these minute mayflies presents classic “match the hatch” dry fly fishing in Montana. Near Bozeman, the East Gallatin River is a dry fly anglers’ haven when the Trico hatch takes place in late July and August. Trout and carp rise throughout the day in August on the Missouri River along foam lines. On the Beaverhead River, trout actively feed subsurface on sunken spinners until around noon.
Tricos thrive in sunshine, so seeing thick clouds of small insects swarming over a slow section of river on a sunny day will give you a good clue as to what patterns to try next.
Top 3 Montana Rivers For Trico Hatches
Top 5 Trico Flies For Fly Fishing in Montana
