I first heard about Jeff Blood’s Blood Dot egg pattern years ago, but I’d never tied nor fished it until recently. Steelhead Alley guide extraordinaire Bob Packey of Solitude Steelhead Guide Service turned me on to it during last December’s smackdown on the OH and PA Erie tribs. I figure I caught about 90% of my fish on the pattern. Now, to be fair, it was also point fly on my leader the vast majority of time. But in some painfully low, clear flows, the Blood Dot proved itself over and over.
Then I took the Blood Dot to the Salmon River last month and again, it produced bites. When properly tied — and dunked in water — the fly does a wonderful job of transforming into a translucent, eggy mass with a suggestion of a yolk sac. It all stems from a very sparse tie using Egg colored GloBug Yarn with a contrast color dot. Here’s a tying video from the pattern’s creator, Jeff Blood.
currentseams.com 
I caught a 32″ Leopard trout in Alaska on a egg pattern. They work!
Bill
They sure do, Bill. I need to explore using them for our Farmington River trout.
This egg pattern and the estaz egg pattern are the only patterns of eggs I use on the Salmon River and have always been successful.
It’s proven its worth to me on both Ontario and Erie trips. And you don’t get upset if you lose one.
[…] Lady of Blessed Blood Dot did not fail me. I set the hook so hard on this buck that I almost fell over. Being able to fish […]
[…] Shorter days, longer nights, cooler weather…I’m definitely in the mood, baby! We do need some rain, but as you read this, Great Lakes Steelhead are staging at the mouths of rivers and creeks. I think this thought train all started when I saw that Jeff Blood was going to be one of the tyers at the International Fly Tying Symposium (you’re going right?) on November 16-17. Jeff’s Blood Dot Egg has been my new favorite egg pattern since steelhead guide extraordinaire Bob Packey introduced me to it three years ago. It works on both Erie and Ontario steelhead (not to mention trout in CT). I’ll stand by the title of the article linked here: The best egg pattern for steelhead might be Jeff Blood’s Blood Dot. […]
Steve, if you are coming from Connecticut why Lake Erie and not Salmon River near Pulaski? Just a thought as I have fished Pulaski area several times over the years but never any Erie tribs.
thanks and good fishing!
Hi Bob,
Man does not live by the Salmon River alone…
SR is great for convenience and especially a short run, but the Erie creeks have a level of intimacy that the SR just can’t match. The crowds are still a factor, but Erie is a unique fishery worthy of a trip. Plus, once the fall run ends, the SR tends to have the vast majority of the fish stacked above Altmar. I don’t wanna get up at 4am in January to find a space in the LFZ or below the bridge.