Trico and Ant - the East Branch of the Croton River

Phoebe Hole in the morning.

We started earlier than usual last Saturday to fish the Trico hatch and its spinner fall in Trestle Pool of the East Branch of the Croton River.
Trico hatch and its spinner fall were something special I was looking forward to because this tiny mayfly can bring up large fish to the surface of the water.  Many years ago I enjoyed such a feeding frenzy experience.

But when we got to Trestle Pool,  there was nothing
going on, no bugs or rising fish.
So we moved on to the bridge near the dam of the East Branch.

She always has a good time in Bathtub Pool.

My wife fished in Bathtub Pool upstream of the bridge.  

I went to Phoebe Hole - about 200 yards downstream from the bridge - to search for Trico.
On the way I saw some Trico flying back and forth over the river.
It seemed to be enough Trico to make a good spinner fall although it had no comparison to the one like powder snowfall which I witnessed many years ago.

In Phoebe Hole a lot of fish was rising and that was what I was looking forward to.
So I rushed back to the bridge to tell my wife.

We finally fished with the Trico.

Trico spinner in Phoebe Hole

 

I caught a brown with a Trico spinner fly right away.  But that was it with the Trico fly.

Nevertheless, my wife struggled with the Trico fly.

I wandered if my Trico fly imitations were good enough for these picky trouts in the Hole.
We managed to catch some with other flies.

We went back to Trestle Pool before lunch.
This time some tiny BWO mayflies were on the water.
We caught a few fish by matching flies with the BWOs.
But one particular fish didn't take any of my flies no matter what.
So my wife said, "how about ants."
I also came up with using an ant fly because I saw an ant on the water.
After changing to an ant fly, I immediately caught this finicky brown.

What a good fighter it was!!  I enjoyed a lot.

After lunch and some rest, we fished in Trestle Pool again.
Then towards early evening, we went to the bridge near the dam.
My wife fished around the bridge and
I went to Phoebe Hole again.
Fish was eating tiny BWOs and something else.
I got a couple of fish.
As evening approaching, bugs and rising fish became less and less, so I was getting ready to leave.
But before leaving, I hit on the idea of why not trying an ant fly.
With a few castings, I hooked a 16+ inches  fat  
                                                                                       rainbow. It snatched the ant fly with a splash.
                                                                                      This rainbow was the biggest I ever caught in
                                                                                       Phoebe Hole.

                                                                                       Ants seemed to be the special favorite food for the
                                                                                       trouts today.  Or anytime?