Some new colors that are simply deadly!

Hey everybody! It’s been some time since I last wrote but want to thank everybody for all the orders and success stories associated with this amazing egg fly. Knotty Egg is still going strong and I have added a few very productive colors. Bright Roe and Oregon Cheese are two colors that are fairly new but have been in production for the past 18 months. Bright Roe has become my biggest seller as of late and has been a steady producer for me on all my trips to the Great Lake Tribs.

Also just added is Grape, Buttered Popcorn and Pellet fly.

Grape is a purple color and is very popular with Salmon fishermen and a color that Steelheaders use with great success. Especially during the slow periods of mid afternoon. One of those colors that just works when nothing else is producing.

Buttered Popcorn is a light yellow and I just started selling it this year. I’ve had more people text me and comment on fish caught on this color than any color I’ve ever had! Like Crème it imitates a sucker spawn cluster (Color) very well.

Pellet is a fly that I will put on my list because of popular demand. Looks exactly like a trout pellet that fish get fed in the hatcheries. (Works great for kids fishing derby’s or wherever trout are keying on the pellet food.) I have so much private message requests for the pellet fly that I am making it available to anyone who wants it.

In closing, I will try to write more. I hope everyone is staying safe during this trying time. Fishing can be a great escape and just the ticket for  some soul cleansing to combat this Corona Virus. As of now all my orders are still mailed out next day as everything gets sent through the USPS.

God Bless and Let’s Get Knotty!

Tom Barton

A Fast, Simple and Extremely Effective Egg Pattern

It is getting to that time of the year when we Steelheaders (Salmon and Browns included) start thinking about filling our fly boxes with all the endless patterns to use this fall. Egg patterns, no doubt , are a big chunk of the tying. Nobody wants to spend hours tying a few flies, especially egg patterns that you will be going through one after another. (You know you need every color and quantity to throw at these fish!)

Well the Knotty Egg is the pattern you've been waiting for! You can tie literally 40-50 in one hour!! And this pattern produces one of the most realistic and effective egg patterns on the market!! It has color, behavior/movement that entices strikes(Try getting that with most any other egg pattern) and the perfect size.(Which can be made customized to perfection with a pair of scissors!). Not to mention the hook-up rate is off the charts since there is no impediment to the hook gap from bulky egg yarn materials!!

Check out the web page for the "Tie Your Own Knots" and get all your eggs tied in one or two evenings!! Good Luck and Let's Get Knotty!!! Tom Barton

Steelhead enhancements

Is it possible to make the Knotty Egg even more effective? Try these easy steps when the fishing slows down. (1) Carry a few various colored permanent  markers in your vest or pack. Add a blood dot or speckles quickly to the egg. Amazing and simple. (2) Carry a small pair of sharp scissors. (Titanium scissors at Walmart cost 5 bucks). Clip down and shape your Knotty Egg into a smaller size or micro egg with incredible results. Both of these simple adjustments have enticed countless Steelies, Browns and Salmon to a Knotty Egg head shake  and caused myself and fellow fishermen to bellow the two greatest words in the English language...Fish On!!!

Egg Pattern or Sucker Spawn

Single egg, egg cluster or sucker spawn??? What should I use? All these flies have their time and place and work amazingly well on egg hungry Salmonids.

The unique feature of my Knotty egg is that it does a good job of imitating all those patterns in this one fly. Yes, it is used mostly as a single egg, however, the consistency of the material and the way the fly is created makes it a very productive sucker spawn/egg cluster fly.  I have had fishermen tell me that they no longer tie sucker spawns because my Knotty Egg works just as well!

I'm not 100% sure about those statements but I do know they have produced for me just about as well in any sucker spawn situation I have encountered. And the great thing about the Knotty Egg (if you tie your own) is that you can literally tie 10 Knotty Eggs to 1 sucker spawn!! 

We all know how many eggs we go through when the action is hot so filling your fly box with a lot of eggs in a short amount of time is key. You CANNOT tie a faster, more productive egg pattern than a Knotty Egg. PERIOD!!

You can purchase packets of the Knotty Egg "Knots" to tie your own on the website!! All my colors are available!

The Origin of the Knotty Egg

I guess you could say that the Knotty Egg got it's start as early as 1966! I was 4 years old and that is when my father introduced me to fly fishing and fly tying. We lived in southwest Pennsylvania, between Johnstown and Altoona and had access to many amazing trout streams. My dad was a school teacher and took me fly fishing in the evenings and most weekends. All of my earliest memories are being on the trout stream with my dad, casting to rising trout with my dads help because I was too small to maneuver the rod. Before I was even in kindergarten my dad would lay out an assortment of hooks and material on his fly bench before he left for school and I would tie crazy, colorful creations most of the day. (The lady who babysat me must have been pleased!) I still have a bunch of these "Flies" and I must say they ain't too bad for a 4-5 year old,. So, as I grew up we started fishing the Erie tributaries and eventually ventured to New York for fall and spring Steelhead/Browns. We used countless egg patterns and in the 70's the famous Sucker Spawn became a hot fly. I used it, along with other egg patterns, with great success everywhere. Eggs became a staple of my fly box and I used them in the winter and spring in all the Pennsylvania streams I fished. They always caught fish when days were slow. As time went by fall trips to NY and Erie became a regular thing. Every year a group of 6-10 of us would get together and fish for Salmon, Stelhead and Browns on all the magnificent streams in Ohio, PA and NY.

So, a few years ago, I believe it was 2011, after one of these unforgettable trips to the Salmon River in NY, I was thinking of tying a new egg pattern and the thought of making a knot came to me. After experimenting with countless methods and materials I perfected the Knotty Egg. I took a bunch fishing that following fall and, to even my surprise, was amazed at the success. Over the next year I added colors and made tweaks to the pattern. Fisherman started having AMAZING success on my fly and everyone told me "You need to market this fly!!" So, I put a web site together and here we are! People ask me all the time..."How did you come up with the idea of this fly??!!" I just tell them that as I was driving around one day after a fishing trip the idea of this fly just came to me. So I went home and started experimenting.   My friends say "Most guys are driving around thinking about girls but you are thinking about fly patterns!"   I guess my background makes me different than most folks.

Well, there you have it. This is my first Blog so sorry it is kind of long. Many more to follow. Anyway, give the Knotty Egg a try. You won't be disappointed!