Fishing egg flies

[Allmyne]

When fishing egg flies the ones I see float does tihs actually work well? I would think a sinking egg would produce alot better. Am i thinking wrong?

[AaronJasper]

I can post! I could not sign my friend off the site....

Yes the egg float. However, when the eggs are first laid they do in fact sink and lay on the bottom. It is after a little while that they become somewhat bouyant. The ones that float are actually a bit larger than you think. If the egg starts off as lets say 4mm they might increase in size to 6 or 8mm. This is when they start to "float". They do not float to the surface. They sort of become neutrally bouyant.

As for egg patterns...

most of your egg patterns have this quality built in already. They don't snk and drag on the bottom. The hydrology of the bottom currents keep the flies from doing this. Remember the yarns that these flies are tied with when put into the water to not sink either. I think that the hook is the necessary weight needed to recreate the "neutrally bouyant" effect of natural fish eggs.

[alanb_ct]

The weight of the hook must be a key component, because the TMC 105 "Glo Bug" hook is 2X strong, a really thick metal with a good deal of mass. The weight of that hook must offset the buoyancy in the glo bug yarn, which is good since the yarn must trap some air too, the fibers are so dense.

[jareynolds]

Aaron, what size is a good all around egg pattern or do you change size according to spawning timing?
Thanks, Jeff

[AaronJasper]

I like to use the TMC 2499sp bl for all of my glo bugs. I make most of my trout glo bugs in sizes 16 and 18.

For steelhead I like to make them bigger... much bigger.

High dirty water I can make them in a size 8. Clear water you can use a size 16. I think that for steelhead fishing water clarity determines the size of the flies rather than the size of the actual eggs.