The Sunk Trico

 

 

While fishing a favorite side channel on the Missouri last summer our group encountered an interesting phenomenon. There is very large pool there that has a slow circular motion to the flow. Trapped in the currents were thousands of spinners, both tricos and PMDs. Fish were rising everywhere but we were having a very tough time getting strikes. It was extremely windy and ultimately, I became frustrated and decided to observe rather than fish, something I seem to do more and more as get older. What I discovered was the fish seemed to be taking just under the surface, rather than on it. This is not an unusual occurrence on heavily fished flat water, where the fish tend to be skittish and more comfortable taking sub surface. Normally I would have thought "emergers", but those patterns hadn't worked.

 

When I returned to Ohio I remembered some spinners Charlie Craven had sent me a few years back, ones that he called sunk spinners. They were tied on short shank curved hooks, and I had never fished them much nor done much with them over time. I decided to come up with my own Sunk Trico spinner for that pool and did so. I sent them to my friend Bruce Copeland who lives in Bozeman, for testing. A week or two later I received the following email:

 

I hit the upper Beaverhead Sunday and although there were a fair number of people there, the fishing was pretty darn good to your trico pattern.  I caught a half dozen fish in the 18-21 inch range.  This is just amazing on such a small fly.  I absolutely love that tie, so easy to see for a trico spinner.

 

I honestly didn't think much about it at the time. Bruce is such an incredible fly fisherman that he could have used any number of flies on the Beaverhead and caught big fish, his presentation is that good. But a couple of weeks after that I got a call from him. He had just fished the pool on the Missouri for which the fly had been designed. There was desperation in his voice. He had caught and broken off so many very large fish that all the Sunk Tricos were gone, and he needed more right away! He said it was the best trico pattern he'd ever used. This time I knew I had something, a pattern that Bruce now found indispensable. So, thanks Charlie, those sunk spinners really work!

 

 

The Sunk Trico Step by Step

 

Step 1.

Start black thread behind the eye and wrap back to the bend, leaving a long thread tag. Build a small thread bump at the rear and wrap forward to about the 1/3 shank position.

 

 

Step 2.

Tie in 2 dun microfibbets and bind down halfway back to the thread bump. The tails should be hook length or longer when finished.

 

 

Step 3.

Bring the thread tag forward between the two microfibbets and bind it down on your side of the hook. This will trap the near microfibbet. Wrap back to the bump holding the far microfibbet in place. Use side to side pressure as you near the thread bump and try to get a wide spread. Wind the thread back forward.

 

 

Step 4.

Trim the microfibbet butts and the thread tag. Take thread back down to the tail and tie in a piece of x-small olive Ultra Wire. I think Charlie Craven's original pattern simply had thread bodies, but I decided that a wire body might sink a little better, as well as suggest some segmentation. I'm using more and more of these wire bodies over time, on nymphs and emergers. Wind the thread forward to the wing tie in point at about the 1/3 shank point.

 

 

Step 5.

Hold two white CDC feathers back to back, tips forward in your left hand. Tie them in on top of the hook with two pinch wraps. Adjust as necessary, cut the butts off at an angle to facilitate a tapered body, and bind down the butts all the way to the tail. The wings should be at least hook length, if not longer. Form a tapered body with more wraps of thread forward up to the wing.

 

 

Step 6.

Wrap the ultra wire forward and tie off leaving a space behind the wings.

 

 

Step 7.

Post the wings up with thread wraps in front.

 

 

Step 8.

Divide the wings with the thumb and forefinger of each hand. Try to re-establish the original two feathers. Hold the near wing horizontally. Take 5 wraps diagonally between the wings, front to back, up the wing. Try not to affect the far wing.

 

 

Step 9.

Take one wrap behind the wings. Hold the far wing horizontally. Take 5 wraps diagonally between the wings, back to front, up the wing. Try not to affect the near wing.

 

 

Step 10.

Hold both wings back on top of the hook and take several wraps in front of them. Straighten them and take several wraps behind them. We want to secure these wings with thread, not depend on dubbing to do it later.

 

 

Step 11.

Take thread to the rear of the thorax. Dub a long section of the thread with black Superfine dubbing, as finely as you can.

 

 

Step 12.

Dub the thorax by wrapping forward. When you get to a position in front of the wings, take two diagonal wraps between them to behind the wings. Wind one wrap of dubbed thread behind the wings, then two diagonal wraps forward to the front of the wings. Try not to affect the wings with these diagonal wraps. Finish off the thorax, and whip finish behind the eye.

 

 

Step 13.

The wings should tilt up slightly. This puts the body of the fly in or below the film, and makes the fly more visible on the water.

 

The Sunk Trico Recipe

 

Hook: TMC 2487 or similar, #18-#22

Thread: Black 12/0 or smaller

Tails: Light dun microfibbets

Abdomen: X-small olive UTC Ultra Wire

Wings: White CDC

Thorax: Black Superfine dubbing