Eggsellent! December 02 2024, 0 Comments

We've been fishing a lot recently for Bull Trout on articulated flash flies, swinging them through runs. Pulling large numbers of fish from each run we move through. But when the temperatures go down, the water levels drop and the water clears up, sometimes you need to downsize your presentation. It's time to match the "hatch".

With sea run Bull Trout in many of our north west coastal rivers, matching the hatch at this time of year means fishing eggs. The size and the colour of eggs will change as the season progresses and the various species of salmon come and go. Tie up some different colour patterns before you go. Orange will always be a go to colour, but reds, pinks, even chartreuse will all work at various times.

Here's how we tie what we think are the most realistic egg patterns.

When it comes to rigging, it's not rocket science. You're trying to simulate an egg that is floating downstream, and eggs are negatively buoyant, meaning you want your egg to be near the bottom. The pattern we've just tied on a heavy hook does just that, but the faster we can get it down, the more time we're fishing, so rigging with additional weight including split shot and a swivel helps. This also helps provide a vertical presentation, meaning the egg looks more natural.

After many years of fishing a similar setup, some advice springs to mind. It will be cold on the river, and often wet. Your hands won't do the finer things well. Wind, repeated casting, snags and fish will take their toll on your gear and you'll spend significant time rigging up again. If you can find a minute or two, pre-rigging at home before you go out will vastly increase your success and enjoyment. Take a look at the quick rigging video where we show you the basics and share a few tricks as well.

Then it's just a simple matter of tying the rig onto your leader and setting a float to the desired depth. Setting your float is as easy as guessing the depth, then multiply by 1.5 for overall leader length. For example, fishing 4ft depth means you have your float set at 6ft from the fly. Now go out and fish them! Here's how it worked for us last week...

We'd love to see how this works for you, so please share your success on Facebook !