[Video] How to Tie a Trico Spinner

July 6, 2012

Tim Flager of Tightline Productions demonstrates how to tie Eric Stroup’s Snowshoe Trico Spinner in this fly tying video tutorial.

4th of July Fly

Synonymous with the 4th of July, the start of the Tricos hatch is a hallowed event in many parts of the country that runs through October. On my home waters of the Little Lehigh in eastern Pennsylvania, the first few weeks of the hatch bring up wary wild brown trout that you (ok I) seldom see all year, particularly during the spinnerfall that follows the morning hatch. For such an event, a Trico spinner imitation such as the one tied here is just the ticket.

Trico Spinner Tying Tips

Use of an emerger style hook as opposed to a standard dry fly hook makes tying this pattern easier and more importantly makes hooking fish easier. As Tim points out, simply vary the size of the wings and length of the tread body to vary the apparent size of the fly, i.e., to mimic a size 24 fly on size 20 hook. Neat trick Tim!