Fly Fishing

Matt1515 · Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:44 pm Post subject: Egg Patterns

Last weekend, I hit the water and fished early moning to the early afternoon. I spent two hours not even seeing fish at all. The water was high and it was cold so I kept my flies to nymphs. After alot of effort but no results, I went to my car and tied up some egg patterns. For the next two hours almost every drift drew fish. I was using a simple orange pattern on a 14 hook. Even though I tied them well enough for the fish to bite, I still have trouble tying them without the center wraps deviding the egg yarn (like I said, the fish were biting but I'm a perfectionist I suppose). What is the best way to avoid or correct this. Some good instructional links are appreciated. The couple I have looked at doesn't do much more than say wrap only 2 or 3 times. By the way, I have my own "You know you're a fly fishing addict..." When your kids stop asking in the morning if you're going to work and start asking where you're going to fish that day (despite my coat and tie).

RickW · Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:59 pm Post subject:

matt,
Other's may have a different approach, but I tie a couple of wraps around, then lift the ends and throw a few loops underneath. Next, pull the ends straight up and trim. This lets the "egg" sit on top of the hook and doesn't infringe on the gape of the hook. It's a really quick tie, no fuss no muss. The hook is visible under the egg, but the fish don't seem to mind. Wink

Matt1515 · Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:52 pm Post subject:

Thanks. I usually tie the yarn all the way around the hook. I'll try that method and see what happens. Still, how can I get the yarn to not be divided by the center wraps?

waterwhippa · Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 3:27 pm Post subject:

The best way I have found is to "post" the yarn and make a few horizontal wraps around it.

SageDS2 · Newbie Joined: Oct 18, 2006 Posts: 17

I just use McFly foam. It works great, all you do is tie the material to the center of the hook the pull the material up and snip it. Makes perfectly circled eggs every time.

RickW · Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:35 pm Post subject:

Matt1515 · Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:26 am Post subject:

I tried sitting the yarn and wrapping around the bottom last night and it worked like a charm. To be honest, I like it to sit on top of the hook like that. I tried it in a creek behind my house (where there are absoulutely no fish, I live in the suburbs) and it drifts the same as tying it through it. Thanks for the help. Also I tried using Enrico's silky fibers in the middle for the egg spot and they work great as well.

waterwhippa · Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:18 am Post subject:

good deal

Matt1515 · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:26 am Post subject:

Just a follow up. Headed to the mountains this weekend and used the eggs. They seemed to last longer than the old method I was using. The posting on the bottom seemed to give the fly more support and durablity. Caught 7 fish on the same fly and didn't change it until I lost one in a tree. Thanks for the help.

pck · Newbie Joined: Aug 09, 2005 Posts: 3

It never fails to amaze me how well such a simple pattern can work at times. Another pattern I've never used but is simple and seems to catch a lot of fish is the san juan worm.

I tied up a bunch of eggs the other night and noticed that everytime I tie them I use a slightly different approach, although I usually use some variation of the post method.

Paul

Matt1515 · Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:57 pm Post subject:

I really never use the SJ Worm either. I've used it plenty of times but I assume I'm not fishing it correctly because I haven't caught any fish on it. I'm heading to the mountains tomorrow and I purposly tied a few variations to try. I'm going to try the bead head pattern. I like the idea of the faster sink rate. Maybe it will be a winner. I've had a lot of success with red patterns lately.

ScottRods · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 2:40 am Post subject:

do you guys tie lead in under the fly to weight it down or use shot or another nymph to do that?

Is it best fished on the bottom or just above it?

Matt1515 · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:17 am Post subject:

I use lead sometimes but mostly tungston putty. I bounce the egg right on the bottom. Sometimes split shot gets caught up and causes me to lose flies. That's why I like the putty. On light tippet, the split will sometimes crimp the line and make it even more fragile.