sucker spawn

[thesmayway]

Can anyone provide critique on these please? There are a bunch of videos showing different ways to tie these so i tried a couple different ones. I'm guessing it doesn't really matter too much, but would still appreciate the feedback.

The first one i used 2 whole pieces of yarn and only had room to make 3 or 4 loops

This style i use a single strand from 3 different colors of yarn and made several loops. I also used a tungsten bead and lead to get it down quickly. I've been trying to get away from split shot

 

[Sylvaneous]

Well tied. I often like a bead head to help sink this otherwise float-happy fly. It didn't look like your material was angora rabbit yarn. It's important you use this stuff. It sticks in the trout's teeth and catches more fish. If you want sparkle and flash, put in a pinch of ice dub or whatever when you're wrapping down the loops of yarn.

Syl

 

[Dave_W]

I like 'em!

Sucker spawn is usually tied in a variety of colors, although the real stuff is bright golden yellow.

The lower fly has slightly more of a shapeless clump whereas the upper fly looks more like large fish eggs. Both will catch fish but the lower clump shaped fly looks more like what I usually tie. Also of note, your hooks are the right size. It's easy when tying SS to keep adding a few more loops and making the clump ever larger. This can result in the fly having reduced hooking capacity. Your flies are a good match to the hook size. Don't make the clumps too big. One other minor thing to consider: if you position the bead at mid shank rather than at the eye of the hook, this will help a bit with ensuring that your fly drifts hook upward, which will reduce snags as SS is usually fished close to the bottom. If it were me, I'd drop the strands of flashabou.

Well done.

 

[thesmayway]

Thanks to you both! And great tip on the bead position! You're right, it is not angora yarn that I can tell but it has that similar characteristic of wanting to stick to rough hands so I hoped it was similar enough. I tied one with glo bug material and didn't think that worked to well.

Now I'll bust out a dozen as I understand it's about time for the white suckers to get going. Thanks again

 

[Dave_W]

thesmayway wrote:
Now I'll bust out a dozen as I understand it's about time for the white suckers to get going. Thanks again

Here's a good thread I started a couple years ago on the topic of sucker spawn.

Sucker Spawn

 

[JeffK]

They look fine to me and I basically agree with the comments above, especially about leaving the hook point unobstructed. That is a big reason I like sucker spawn patterns over a Glo Bug.

I tend not to use tungsten beads since I think they make egg patterns too heavy and bounce along and not drift like a real egg. Try both and see what you like.

I'm not sure of the size, but for trout I like egg patterns to be a size 14 or smaller. My first choice is the larger size 14, but go smaller if needed. For steelhead I typically tie them on a size 10 hook.

I don't think egg patterns need veiling, flash, or hot spots. But I commonly tie them in because they can seem just too simple without them and us fly tiers need to complicate life.

 

[JeffK]

They look fine to me and I basically agree with the comments above, especially about leaving the hook point unobstructed. That is a big reason I like sucker spawn patterns over a Glo Bug.

I tend not to use tungsten beads since I think they make egg patterns too heavy and bounce along and not drift like a real egg. Try both and see what you like.

I'm not sure of the size, but for trout I like egg patterns to be a size 14 or smaller. My first choice is the larger size 14, but go smaller if needed. For steelhead I typically tie them on a size 10 hook.

I don't think egg patterns need veiling, flash, or hot spots. But I commonly tie them in because they can seem just too simple without them and us fly tiers need to complicate life.