Most fly guys have an assortment of egg flies in their boxes. There are so many variations and hardly any room for the San Juan Worms. Some anglers do not approve of using eggs or worm imitations, but they are legal flies to use. There are some days when they work the best.

I am currently tying some Thunder Eggs! These egg flies have eyes and are tied with eztaz or chenille rather than egg yarn. I also fish flies using an ultra-lite rod, so a weighted egg fly is a good idea.

Egg and worm flies have been around for a long time. Fish eat worms and spawn in the wild. Their DNA says eggs are tasty and on the menu.

My first attempt at an egg fly was made with a standard baitholder hook wrapped with lead wore. I then wrapped orange chenille around the fly to mimic an egg. I called it the Terminator. It worked really well on Fly Fishing Only waters. My first worm imitation used a red rubber band from the newspaper. I used fine copper wire to wrap it on a salmon egg hook. This also worked well.

Today there are a boatload of new materials and variations of these Meat Flies. Many tyers make meat flies too light. They look great but fail to get deep into the waters. The Thunder egg gets deep due to the heavier, weighted eyes.

Heavy flies will sink faster but may not sink naturally. There is a fine line as to how much weight to add, while still keeping the natural look. There are also times when a free drifting, lighter pattern will work better. Keep a selection of egg variations in your box.

 Meat Flies work better at certain times. Worm flies do great when runoff is washing worms into the water. Eggs work best when fish are spawning. Both flies need to bump the bottom where these baits mix in with the natural ones.

Weighted or wire wrapped Meat Flies are hard to the touch or feel. Fish will quickly spit them out since they don’t feel natural. You need to be quick on the hook set. Sharpen and offset the hooks slightly to improve hookups.

Thunder flies can be eggstatic!

Montana Grant