The soundest argument for learning to tie eggs is that in the best water, you are not allowed to peg a bead. The Pere Marquette’s flies-only water bans trout beads outright, and the Salmon River’s fly-fishing catch-and-release sections prohibit any bead, egg, or attractor rigged above the fly. On that water a tied yarn egg on the hook is the legal, ethical imitation of a drifting salmon egg, and it is the only egg you can fish. A beginner who can tie five of them well is equipped for the fall run almost anywhere in the region.

The good news is that the egg is one of the least fussy flies to tie and one of the toughest to wear out. The trouble beginners run into is a handful of small habits at the vise that make or break the fly.