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Pettis Unreal Egg
Jim Pettis is an independent guide who specializes
on the Lower Sacramento
River at Redding. I’ve
known Jim for many years, and have fished with him a number of times. Jim is a creative fly innovator, who has
several successful, proven patterns to his credit. You will find the Pettis Unreal Egg in any
fly shop, bar none. There are a number
of variations on the single egg pattern, including his Unreal Roe, which is a
cluster arrangement on the hook. He
also has created deadly caddis patterns, such as the Pulsating Caddis, and
the Pulsating Caddis Emerger. Personally, my steelhead fly box always
contains the Unreal Egg in a number of sizes and colors — I
wouldn’t be without them. Jim
fishes the egg pattern under an indicator, often with his Unreal Roe pattern
as a trailer. His leader is long,
often reaching 12 feet beneath the indicator.
Jim’s theory is that the yarn will catch in the fish’s
teeth when they strike, giving the angler a bit of extra hook-set time. For some good pictures of the tying techniques
for this fly see Tying Glass
Bead Flies, 1997, Joe Warren (Frank Amato
Publications, Inc.).
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Materials
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Hook:
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Tiemco
2457, Daiichi 1510, or other egg hook, #12
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Thread:
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Red 6/0
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Underbody:
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Dark orange or red silver lined
glass bead
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Overbody:
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Glo Bug yarn, or McFly Foam in
peach king, champagne, apricot, pink, red, or other colors
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Tying instructions
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Slip a bead onto the hook, place the hook into the vise, and cover
the front third of the hook with thread.
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Cut a small bunch of yarn about ¾” in length. Slide the end of
the yarn over the hook eye so that the yarn surrounds the hook and partially
covers the bead. Secure the yarn there with tight thread wraps.
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Push the bead forward and into the yarn butts and run the thread
under and behind the bead. Take 4 or 5 wraps there to secure the bead in
place.
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Tease the yarn outward in a circle using a small brush.
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