Eggs Anyone??

[S.Trutta]

I've been cranking out all different kinds of eggs in assorted colors by the hundreds, the steelhead just cant seem to get enough of them. The deeper we get into winter the more they will go on the nymph bite, but so far I'm mostly stuck tying these ugly things!!!!

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc306/greenrods/steelheading5001.jpg

Rich

[DM6156]

It's been a few years since I've been to michigan after the salmon and steelhead in the lake michigan tributaries.

One of the fun things about eggs (real or fly) is that you don't know what you're going to catch! I've caught or seen caught salmon, steelhead, pike, walleye, and catfish.

[fishmonger]

Your eggs look great. It looks like you plan on breaking a bunch off, hopefully mostly on fish.

Ever tie an egg around a dumbell eye? Tie on a red eye, and then tie some superfine orange chenille, and wrap it in the groove of the dumbell until just the eye part is visible. Viola, preweighted egg!

Chartreuse works very well too for egg patterns.

Also, try McFly foam, it fluffs out to make a nice dense, round egg, and is easy to tie with. Alot better than yarn, IMHO.

FM

[Loopdawg]

Rich,
Do you normall run two of them in a tandem rig so you can vary the colors, or do you just go with one? What size is your terminal tippet when fishing for steelhead?

[flyg]

...the steelhead just cant seem to get enough of them.

Sure sucks to be you, huh?

I like egg patterns. I don't let anyone bother my by calling them "trash flies", "powerbait flies", or "corn flies". They are a natural component of the fishy diet. Nice looking flies.

G

[S.Trutta]

Oh I certainly dont mind fishing them, like flyg said, they are imitating a real part of the fishes diet....you can still find plenty of dead salmon around the banks and their small pale eggs are everywhere. What's also nice is they are so cheap to tie, and you can easily crank out a dozen or more in a half hour.

I use McFlyfoam for my glo bugs and the centers of the nuke eggs, because they form such a nice neat little round egg with no shaping necessary. I use traditional egg yarn for the clown eggs and for the veils over the nuke eggs. The best colors for me this year have been steelhead orange, chartreuse, and cerise pink. As the water continues to get colder and the fish get more lethargic, smaller, paler eggs usually work better than larger flashier ones.

Loopdawg, the choice of flies is very dependent on the time of the year and how the fish have been behaving. Usually by this time of the year fish are already starting to take nymphs (PM caddis, ice caddis, hot spot PT, PCP nymph, etc.) and also steelhead buggers and sculpins. When the fish are in this mode its best to fish a larger nymph on top with a small pale egg dropper. Because of water levels and the later than usual salmon run this year (I actually caught a 15lb King on Dec. 1 !!!!!!) they are still mostly taking egg patterns. We have been running two eggs, a larger flashy egg, like an estaz egg, up top, with a smaller glo bug or nuke egg on the bottom. We usually run 3x fluro to the top and 4x fluro to the bottom. Almost ever fish I've taken this year has been on the bottom fly, usually #12, on 4x.

Rich