It’s the egg.
Troy and I agree: egg fly patterns work, and we like fishing them. We like fishing them because trout love eggs.
Fish have a strong sense for which food source has the most calories per unit of effort. It is how they’ve evolved over time. The Alpha Trout that have first dibs on the best feeding lies got that way because they’re big. And, they got big by relentless pursuing one maxim: each day, eat more calories than you burn. And, eggs have a lot of calories vs. nymphs.
Some anglers won’t use eggs. That’s cool.
I think that fly fishing should be accessible to all. Whether your fly rod is $50 or $500, it doesn’t matter to me. Whether you’re new to it, or can run clinics, I’m cool with either. Everyone is welcome on the rivers and streams, and I’ve become proficient at fly fishing mostly because others have shared their insights with me.
So, people are free to choose their flies. Some will fish woolly buggers, and others won’t. Same thing with eggs.
If you fish egg flies, here’s an egg pattern that I really like. I always have a few with me, ready to go. On many days, nothing will work but this one.
Video below, or click here.