Egg Pattern?

[a23fish]

I've been fly fishing for under two years, and recently attended my first Beginners class on tying flies sponsored by the local fly fishing club. Who knew tying a Wooly Bugger was so difficult? And the whip finish tool had me look like a 4 year old; now I look like a 6 year old. But to my question.

I've had my best luck since I began fly fishing with the Wooly Bugger and a bead head pinkish egg pattern. Unfortunately I am down to only two of the egg, and my usual supplier is Out of Stock. Of my remaining two, one is pretty beat up with the "egg" part sliding down to the bend of the hook. So, what is the best way to repair this until I can resupply? I noticed the "egg" ball seems to have a small loop in it that goes around the shank but whatever held it in place is long gone.

I'll do some research on tying egg patterns, and perhaps that will be my first unaided attempt at a fly.

Any recommendations on sources for the "egg" and tungsten and/or colored beads for the head?

And since I'm a beginner, any recommendations on a decent quality beginners vise, scissors, bobbin, and other essential tools for a beginner?

I told my wife getting me that Orvis beginners fly rod outfit almost 2 years ago was going to cost me a lot of money....

 

[WWKimba]

Here's a couple egg yarn supplies - https://www.jsflyfishing.com/search...options[unavailable_products]=last&q=egg+yarn

JS is a fine supplier of tying supplies. They have beads, cones and other weight options as well.

Kim

 

[afishinado]

Below is a video for tying an egg pattern with Mcfly foam. With some practice you should be able to crank out egg patterns without too much difficulty.

 

[troutbert]

Sucker Spawn is an easy-to-tie egg style, and very effective for trout and steelhead.

Sucker Spawn

Sucker spawn has long been a favorite trout fly for fishing the local Central Pennsylvania trout streams. Spring Creek has a notable white sucker population and when they are actively spawning sucker eggs become an important food source for trout.

www.flyfishersparadise.com

 

[turkey]

For an easy egg pattern, the first thing that came to mind was an Estaz Egg. I like them with a bead head, tung if you like. You can make them as simple as you want or add Krystal Flash tails, or whatever. Butter rum, peach, salmon, white, etc. seem to do well.

For tying tools, I'd look at a basic brass fly tying tool kit. I started with that and still use most of them. I also started on a Thompson-style AA vise. I ran that until the jaws started to wear a bit. By then I knew a little better about what kind of tying I wanted to do and how invested I would be in it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Kyle]

a lot of great videos online for tying one. but in the meantime, if your looking for some eggs i can ship some to you. up to you. just message me your mailing address. no charge. just pay it forward next time for the next guy.

 

[a23fish]

Thank you all for your prompt responses & advice. I appreciate it. I'm looking at straight eye barbless #14 hooks, tungsten bead heads, probably around 1/16", to match the egg flies that have been so productive for me. I also appreciate the video links; there are a lot out there.

As a side note, I have a very old clamp-on style tying vise and a bobbin that I found in a plastic bin in the basement, apparently leftover from one of my bass fishing "lets tie our own bucktail jigs" days in the last century. So I can muddle through with that for now. But I gotta tell you, opening that plastic bin is an olfactory experience; I forgot there were several packages of bucktail and other jig tying materials in there and they are a bit ripe. But at least I have a rudimentary vise & bobbin.

My beginners class has newbie kits for use during the class, and those vises are mounted on a heavy stone base of some kind. Pretty stable, so I looked online for vises mounted on base plates and was shocked at the prices. It can cost a lot of money to tie your own flies for cheap.

 

[JimNovo]

I started with a Cabellas travel vise in a wooden box. I think it made me a better tyer because I needed to really concentrate on the technique. This year I moved to a Peak Rotary vise and I must say it is worth every penny. It really helps on certain patterns.

What makes a good fly tyer though is lots of practice…,not the vise. Focus on a few flies. Watch the videos that experts put up (Flagler, Cammisa, McPhail). Tie a fly, cut the materials off and tie again if you are not happy. Then move to, and master a new pattern.

I’m lucky to have friends out west who push me to tie flies that aren’t fished in the East. It’s fun to try and tie new things. Keep learning It’s almost becomes an obsession….for me it has!

 

[a23fish]

Afishinado - I can't believe how much of the McFly Foam material was used in that video to make one egg pattern fly. Most of the other videos I saw use much less.

 

[JimNovo]

I agree with you on the quantity used. Seems like a lot. Experiment and find what works for you.

 

[WWKimba]

Thank you all for your prompt responses & advice. I appreciate it. I'm looking at straight eye barbless #14 hooks, tungsten bead heads, probably around 1/16", to match the egg flies that have been so productive for me. I also appreciate the video links; there are a lot out there.

As a side note, I have a very old clamp-on style tying vise and a bobbin that I found in a plastic bin in the basement, apparently leftover from one of my bass fishing "lets tie our own bucktail jigs" days in the last century. So I can muddle through with that for now. But I gotta tell you, opening that plastic bin is an olfactory experience; I forgot there were several packages of bucktail and other jig tying materials in there and they are a bit ripe. But at least I have a rudimentary vise & bobbin.

My beginners class has newbie kits for use during the class, and those vises are mounted on a heavy stone base of some kind. Pretty stable, so I looked online for vises mounted on base plates and was shocked at the prices. It can cost a lot of money to tie your own flies for cheap.

If you have a C-clamp type vise , these are pretty much standard sized center rod so you can get a pedestal alone for ~$20-$25 and use that to stabilize your tying vise.

Kim

 

[PennKev]

I agree with you on the quantity used. Seems like a lot. Experiment and find what works for you.

I'm also on board with "less is more" in regard to McFly Foam yarn.

Use as little as you need to form a neat round egg. With any egg pattern that uses MFF or egg yarn, tying too dense of a an egg will prevent you flies from sinking quickly and also a sparse egg is more translucent and natural looking.

 

[bugs4]

Look for some "Egg-stacy" yarn. A few wraps on a scud hook and you're done. Super simple and they work well. Holsingers fly shop is a good source.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

another trick to manage the fly foam is to use a drinking straw of other tube as a dispenser.

"I told my wife getting me that Orvis beginners fly rod outfit almost 2 years ago was going to cost me a lot of money."
LMAO

 

[dudemanspecial]

I tie some nuke eggs and sucker spawn, but truth be told if I think the egg bite is on I just use a classic glo bug with a blood dot 90% of the time. They take a minute to tie and they catch as many fish as anything else. I do use some mcfly foam, but mostly just use good old glo bug yarn.

 

[hooker-of-men]

I would just note that, with the above Glo Bug recipe, YouTube tiers always seem to end up with a great looking sphere. I can never replicate this. I have better luck if I essentially do the process shown twice: once for a half sphere on top of the hook and once for a half sphere on bottom of the hook.

 

[Solitariolupo]

Glo bugs don’t be afraid to use a lighter and tighten up the material and can make it more round.
Plus sticking the glo bug material in any straw helps with shape.

 

[RLeep2]

I've never been convinced that an egg fly needs to be in the round in order to please or interest any living thing other than yourself... All I ever did was lash in 3 short pieces of glo bug yarn beside each other with the eye or contrasting colored piece in the center. Finish off the head and pull all 3 pieces up together and give it a haircut to your desired size. Poof! Instant egg mushroom head fly. Works in all sizes down to about a #16 and is especially effective on steelhead in really dirty water when tied on a 3906 equiv. #6 hook so your fly has a diameter somewhere between a quarter and a half dollar. You also need to use about 3-4 BB's to keep it down though.

 

[Dr.J 1952]

I tied on $20 vices for 25 years. Bought a Regal a few years ago. I tied Glo Bugs with glo bug yarn for nearly thirty years. I still use it for a wing on a Framus steelhead pattern and the thinned-out pink for sucker spawn. However, McFly foam is 200% easier and I use Eggstacy too. Seems Eggstacy is harder to find in certain colors. Feather Craft out of St. Louis usually has anything you need for fly tying. I tie most of my Glo Bugs with a blood dot. White with a red blood dot has produced for me with steelhead. I'll also tie using a red tungsten bead with a white Eggstacy body.

 

[Tigereye]

For an easy egg pattern, the first thing that came to mind was an Estaz Egg. I like them with a bead head, tung if you like. You can make them as simple as you want or add Krystal Flash tails, or whatever. Butter rum, peach, salmon, white, etc. seem to do well.

For tying tools, I'd look at a basic brass fly tying tool kit. I started with that and still use most of them. I also started on a Thompson-style AA vise. I ran that until the jaws started to wear a bit. By then I knew a little better about what kind of tying I wanted to do and how invested I would be in it.

Hope this helps.

This pattern is all you need. Simple cheap and effective.