Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2015 - 37

Spawning season is the ideal time for young fly tiers to
learn about the trout and steelhead life cycle by teaching
them various egg patterns such as the Scrambled Egg,
Sucker Spawn or Jeff Blood's Blood Dot (shown here).

tied eggs as well as conserve tying material. The dispenser
includes tubes for tying small, medium and large egg flies.
Teach your child the technique of figure-eight wrapping,
used in creating dry fly parachute posts. I have even used
the barrel of a plastic pen container to thread the material
through for this style of egg tying.
Next, your tier may progress to patterns such as
Pennsylvania's own Sucker Spawn. This category represents
the translucent clusters of eggs that fish species will deposit
throughout the year. Sucker Spawn can be tied in a multitude
of colors of angora or sparkle yarn such as cream, salmon,
white, chartreuse and yellow. Your child can separate the
strands and form mini loops, working their way along the
hook shank. Kids will have a tendency to make larger loops.
Adjust the loops by tugging the free end of the material to
the right-sized loop for eggs. When they feel comfortable
tying this pattern, present the Scrambled Egg fly, which
incorporates this style of loop tying.

Just add water

For advanced tiers, introduce the realistic "veiled" flies
such as Jeff Blood's Blood Dot or Michael Gorman's Bead
Head Egg. These flies represent the skein, which covers
the egg embryo. When dipped in water, kids will observe
the yolk embedded inside. From a trout's perspective, this
looks like a real glowing egg. Tie these sparsely, because
too much material will ruin the pattern. Use lighter colors
for the outside such as pink or light yellow and a deeper
color, such as fire red or salmon orange, for the inside yolk,
so it shines through.
Allow your young tier to experiment with egg tying
materials, techniques and patterns during the winter
months. They will develop an understanding of the trout and
steelhead life cycle as well as an appreciation of matching
these eggs on the vise.
"It is good to remember there will be a lot more steelhead
caught on a piece of yarn, than all the fanciest flies ever tied."-
Roderick Haig-Brown
PFBC website: www.fishandboat.com

Your child will build their steelhead fly box by starting with
simple egg patterns and progressing to more difficult fly recipes.

Egg Patterns

* Scrambled Egg materials
Hook: Curved scud nymph, sizes 10-18
Thread: Fluorescent red or orange, 6/0
Tail (optional): Krystal Flash
Underbody: Glo Bug yarn, baby pink,
Oregon cheese or chartreuse
Bloodline: Glo Bug micro yarn,
flame or steelhead orange
* Sucker Spawn materials
Hook: Standard nymph curved, sizes 12-16
Thread: Uni Thread 6/0, Light Cahill,
fluorescent chartreuse or fire orange
Body: Angora, Krystal braid or sparkle yarn
Colors of salmon egg: white, yellow,
cream or chartreuse
Tail (optional): Krystal Flash
* Jeff Blood's Blood Dot materials
Hook: Heavy wire scud, sizes 8-20 or sizes 12-16
for steelhead
Thread: Orange 210 Denier Flat Wax
Body: Egg-colored Glo Bug yarn
Yolk: Orange Glo Bug yarn
* Michael Gorman's Bead Head Egg materials
Hook: Standard wet, size 8
Bead: 5/32-inch brass
Tag: Heavy thread, Fl. Green
Thread: 6/0, red
Body: Chenille, shell pink or darker
Wing or Skein: Glo Bug yarn, champagne

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * January/February 2015

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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2015

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