Pattern For How to Fly Fish for Trout With Salmon Eggs
During spring and fall, the eggs from salmon make up a large food source for foraging trout in streams and rivers. Many trout cling to the bottom, face forward into the current, patiently waiting for an egg to drift by so it can snatch it. An angler can catch trout by presenting a small colorful egg fly pattern. However, coming up with the right egg pattern is critically important to catching trout. In addition, commercially sold salmon eggs employed with the use of a fly rod can be equally as effective in catching trout.
Things You'll Need
- Fly rod (at least 10 feet long)
- Artificial files (egg pattern) colors orange and yellow
- Real salmon eggs (corn-flavored or garlic)
- No. 3 hook
- Two 2-ounce split shots
- 1-foot mesh net
Instructions
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Visit a fishing shop and pick out a good fly rod. While purchasing a fly rod, consider its flexibility. In an extremely thin rod, the more flexible it is, the farther out it will cast.
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Purchase several egg patterns (artificial flies). The flies are designed to mimic real salmon eggs. A pattern may come in various colors and sizes. Use a bright color egg pattern such as orange or yellow when fishing murky water. When you fish clear water, use assorted colors such as white or red. Additionally, purchase several bottles of real salmon eggs, and use them for better results. Commercially sold salmon eggs come in different colors such as red, yellow or orange, and many flavors including cornmeal and garlic. It's best to check with other anglers to see what the fish are biting on and go with that.
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Fashion a natural bait rig to catch trout. Tie a Snell knot to a small No. 3 hook and attach two ½-ounce split shots as weights; place each approximately 6 inches from your hook.
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Tie on an artificial egg pattern, using a Snell knot. If you choose to fish real salmon eggs, run the hook through the center of the egg until the hook's barb passes through the entire egg. Slide two or three eggs onto your hook. The number of eggs placed depends on the size of the hook. If you use a small No. 8 hook, normally just one egg will fit on the hook. However, if you use a larger No. 3 hook, you could possibly fit two or three eggs onto a hook this size.
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Locate a deeper section of water and scan for trout. Normally, brown trout will lie in deep holes alongside rocks and under a cutbank. Focus your efforts on these areas, as well as where faster sections of the current bounce off the rocks and run into debris.
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Cast out 5 to 10 yards upstream. The rod tip should point straight out. Keep the rod level to the water and make sure it stays extended upstream throughout the entire drift cycle of your bait. Hold the fishing line in your hand or fingers, and slowly pull the line inward, toward you. This keeps the egg pattern moving with the current, giving the egg pattern the chance to reach a stationary trout.
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Watch the line. Instantaneously, the line will go straight and your rod will go up and down. When this occurs, lift upward and reel as you grab hold of the fishing rod. In their effort to swallow bait, trout will struggle for a brief moment, trying to digest fishing bait. For example, many brook trout tend to behave in this manner when striking salmon eggs. A brook will snatch an egg pattern and frantically start swimming using the force of the water to push the egg pattern down within its throat.
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Play the fish, using your drag. Often when hooked, a rainbow trout will leap from the water trying to escape the hook. Let the fish exhaust itself out before you tow it to your awaiting net.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Stephen Schauer/Photodisc/Getty Images
