Trout Frustration

[uwecsteeple]

Wow, just got back from my second trout fishing expedition ever and am totally humbled. I spent the morning over in western wisco and was able to see tons of trout surfacing and feeding but couldn't get a single one. I think they were feeding on Tricos (really really small ones) and didnt have anything like that in my box. I through some wooly buggers and nymphs with no takes and then tried some dries but had nothing smaller than a size 12.

Do you guys think I would have better luck throwing some really small dries??

[goblueM]

Yep. Late in the year when they're on tricos, you gotta have those in size 20, 22, 24 even

I've seen hatches where its like the river is boiling with trout. They really key in on them. Western WI is great water, I haven't fished trout this year since spring(been on Muskies) but last year I did real well in that area.

[trailratedtj]

i agree..good chance they were trico's, but dont rule out midges, or a late hatch of bwo's.

they could of been feeding on emergers....did you see any visable bugs in the air??

what about their rises...were they "sips" or "boils" or full "head to tail" rises??

could of been alot of things, dry fly fishing for trout can be the most humbling at times and i struggle with it somehow everytime i go out. When you figure everything out theres always that one trout thats feeding on something else.

[uwecsteeple]

they could of been feeding on emergers....did you see any visable bugs in the air??

what about their rises...were they "sips" or "boils" or full "head to tail" rises??

Every riffle had bugs in the air, they came out around 6am and where done by 9ish... the trout were both boiling on the surface and doing full leaps out of the water. It was a great sight, but a fish in my net would have been a better sight!

[trailratedtj]

huh.....Must have been you fly size like you had mententioned. maybe try going 16-24 depending on fly and type...??

[DinkADunk]

Sounds like Trico's. I have them down to size 32. You need to come prepared.

[Sam Sterner]

When I fish with real small Tricos I usually tie on a larger maybe size 12 or so dry to use as an indicator because flies that small are really hard to see. If you cant see what they are feeding on just keep going smaller and smaller. Size 20 dries are the most used in my box usually. Also remember that if not actually rising and just rolling they are feeding on emergers just below the surface.

[so haaad]

You may have encountered two hatches. Pale morning duns (PMD's) are often present right away in the morning, say 6-7 a.m. The tricos are often a little later in the morning when the water warms to around 59 degrees, say 8-9 a.m. When the tricos start, trout get very selective and feed almost entirely on that hatch. Then like a light switch, they're done.