Roe vs. Wade.....

  Maybe the most divisive court case in the history of the Great United States, the mere mention of this 1973 case can cause uproar in even the most non-political people of America. Today’s blog will explore a fly fishing dilemma that can cause the fly fishing world to jump into nearly the same uproar. Over the years we have watched near brawls break out in the shop over whether or not fishing with eggs is fly fishing or bait fishing. One group says that it is only fly fishing if you are throwing a dry. Others say that nymphs are okay but egg or worm patterns are just throwing bait. And still others say, none of it matters as long as you are catching fish. I can’t say that I have a definitive theory one way or another but if I ever get one I am sure it will be “the only correct way”.

  Today we are going to talk a little about peg eggs or trout beads. I wanted to start by giving a little background on my experience with egg and worm patterns. When I first learned to fly fish, I spent the majority of my time fishing dry dropper or Prince and dropper rigs. When I began to learn about targeting large fish, one of my mentors told me he would always start with an egg or a San Juan worm and he felt like fish would move in to look and take the droppers behind it. I tried this for a while with varied levels of success, but as time went on I felt although my numbers were good, I wasn’t catching the numbers of large fish I was looking for. I went back to a straight three fly nymph rig and felt I was catching bigger fish. My conclusion was that the worms and eggs seemed to attract the smaller fish but put off the piggies.

  The last few years the newest rage in fly fishing has become the Trout Bead. It seems that this new wave began in Alaska where according to guides; they were trying to find a way to safely target big trout feeding on eggs. My Alaskan guide friend told me that trout don’t really eat many bugs in that area but absolutely gorge on eggs. One friend was up there last fall and after landing a big bow, he noticed salmon eggs being regurgitated from the fish. He looked down the mouth and saw eggs overflowing the throat canal. Now the guides in Alaska did not like using traditional egg patterns because the fish were gorging so hard on eggs, the fish would swallow the patterns before the client could set the hook in the jaw. So the Trout Bead was invented, it consist of a eggy looking bead on the line followed one and a half to two inches by a small egg hook. The theory is that the fish grab the egg and by the time our ultra slow reflexes set the hook, the hook slides up and catches the fish in the face. Now my immediate reaction to this is that this is disgusting and nothing more than snagging. The last few years Trout Bead usage has slowly migrated south and seems to have really taken off here in Colorado. My wife and I have sat back and felt like Nymphs were all we ever needed, but the rage has continued to grow. My incredible wife Cat teaches a bug seminar on a fairly regular basis and one of the principles she explores in the “Inclusion vs. Exclusion” principle and the trout beads from the outside seem to throw that theory out the window. Under further study, Cat's best guess is that it has more to do with size and weight rather than the hook itself. If you are not sure of this theory, make sure you sign up for her next bug class( you may actually learn why you catch fish).

  Now like I have said, my first ideas on trout beads have been negative. Last spring Cat and I were fishing and I caught a set up from someone fishing eggs that morning. I was absolutely disgusted when I saw the hook they had been using was two inch saltwater hook. Hooking that set up did not make my thought on trout beads any better. Since I don’t want to be a negative Nancy, I wanted to fish a little with the eggs myself so that way I would be able to decide what “the only right way” would be.

  I have fished them three trips out now and have come to a few conclusions. First, my set up was an egg followed 1 ½ inches by a size 18 2488h hook. I have tried a few different colors and have not really noticed a difference. The first trip out with the eggs I fished an hour without a bump and after removing the egg, my first drift took a fish. I put the egg back on later and hooked one fish with the egg on and it was not on the egg. My next two trips were quite different; on Wednesday we saw very few bugs and the egg produced all but one fish for the day. Today, Cat and I landed fifteen or so and the majority were on the egg, once again there were very few bugs on the water today. Now my biggest fear about the eggs was that I would end up having a hook in the eye or just snagging the fish throughout the fish. I was very happy to see that every fish was hooked squarely in the mouth. The percentage of good hook sets was even better that what I have been doing over the last month or so. Even with the size 18 hook I did not feel like I missed many takes.

  So after three trips out fishing trout beads I have come to the conclusion that the only “true right way” is whatever you decide is “Right”. Just please DON’T use enormous saltwater hooks, you don’t need them. One of the tough things about flyfishing is that the flies don’t always cooperate. I think I will keep a small collection for the days that we are not seeing hatches and maybe toss one on when the bugs seem silent. Against my original request, Alex has a pretty good supply at the shop if you want to try the beads out. Alex can walk you through the set up process and you can try them out for yourself.  As always, thanks for reading, Connell, Cat, Winston and The Drift Fly Shop….