Jeff Blood’s Blood Dot Egg Pattern & Tying Instructions
Fly Tying Recipe:
Jeff Blood’s Blood Dot Egg
Show / Hide Jeff Blood’s Blood Dot Egg Transcript Video Transcript:
This is Jeff Blood’s Blood Dot fly. It was developed for use on Great Lakes tributaries but works really well whenever eggs are on the menu - probably because it looks so realistic when wet.
For steelhead, I like a Lightning Strike SE3 hook in size 10. Begin by getting the 2X heavy, 2X short hook firmly secured in the jaws of your tying vise.
For thread, I’ve loaded a bobbin with a spool of white UTC 140 Denier but you can use a color to match the egg yarn if you like. Get your thread started on the hook shank behind the eye and take a few wraps rearward before snipping off the tag.
I believe Mr. Blood used regular glo bug yarn for the fly but here I’m going to use two different colors of McFly Foam – the lighter orange for the majority of the egg and the darker orange for the blood dot. McFly Foam sort of comes in strands, so strip one about this size free from the lighter hank then pull a similar sized strand from the darker one, but split this in half. Pick up the lighter colored strand, snip the end off square, place it on top of the hook shank and take nice tight thread wraps to bind it down.
I like to use a bodkin for this next step. Fold the material around the bodkin to form a small loop that extends not quite to the back of the hook bend. While holding the loop in the fingertips of your left hand, take thread wraps to once again bind the material to the top of the hook shank. Then pull the material back and take thread wraps in front of it. Using your bodkin, form a second, slightly larger loop in front of the first and bind that one down in a similar manner. But this time leave your thread at the tie-in point.
Pick up one of the thinner strands of darker yarn and trim one of its ends off square, and bind that down to the top of the hook shank. Pull all the material back to expose the hook eye and take a couple of wraps around the shank. Once again use your bodkin to create a loop with the lighter material, about the size of the first. After securing the loop, pull the remaining material back and take a couple of wraps behind the hook eye. Reach for your whip finish tool and, while pulling all the material back, do a 4 or 5 turn whip finish immediately behind the hook eye. Be sure to seat the knot well then snip or cut your tying thread free.
Pull tight on the front material and trim it off nice and short. Then, pull on the blood dot material and trim it off short as well. And that really is all there is to it.
The fly can be fished just like this. But to increase its durability, I turn the fly over and use thin UV cure resin, here Solarez Bone Dry, to saturate the thread wraps on the underside of the hook. I’ll then pick up my UV torch and give the area a good shot of UV light. I’ve found that doing this makes this rather durable fly last even longer.
Try tying the Blood Dot in different sizes and color combinations, you really can’t go wrong.
For steelhead, I like a Lightning Strike SE3 hook in size 10. Begin by getting the 2X heavy, 2X short hook firmly secured in the jaws of your tying vise.
For thread, I’ve loaded a bobbin with a spool of white UTC 140 Denier but you can use a color to match the egg yarn if you like. Get your thread started on the hook shank behind the eye and take a few wraps rearward before snipping off the tag.
I believe Mr. Blood used regular glo bug yarn for the fly but here I’m going to use two different colors of McFly Foam – the lighter orange for the majority of the egg and the darker orange for the blood dot. McFly Foam sort of comes in strands, so strip one about this size free from the lighter hank then pull a similar sized strand from the darker one, but split this in half. Pick up the lighter colored strand, snip the end off square, place it on top of the hook shank and take nice tight thread wraps to bind it down.
I like to use a bodkin for this next step. Fold the material around the bodkin to form a small loop that extends not quite to the back of the hook bend. While holding the loop in the fingertips of your left hand, take thread wraps to once again bind the material to the top of the hook shank. Then pull the material back and take thread wraps in front of it. Using your bodkin, form a second, slightly larger loop in front of the first and bind that one down in a similar manner. But this time leave your thread at the tie-in point.
Pick up one of the thinner strands of darker yarn and trim one of its ends off square, and bind that down to the top of the hook shank. Pull all the material back to expose the hook eye and take a couple of wraps around the shank. Once again use your bodkin to create a loop with the lighter material, about the size of the first. After securing the loop, pull the remaining material back and take a couple of wraps behind the hook eye. Reach for your whip finish tool and, while pulling all the material back, do a 4 or 5 turn whip finish immediately behind the hook eye. Be sure to seat the knot well then snip or cut your tying thread free.
Pull tight on the front material and trim it off nice and short. Then, pull on the blood dot material and trim it off short as well. And that really is all there is to it.
The fly can be fished just like this. But to increase its durability, I turn the fly over and use thin UV cure resin, here Solarez Bone Dry, to saturate the thread wraps on the underside of the hook. I’ll then pick up my UV torch and give the area a good shot of UV light. I’ve found that doing this makes this rather durable fly last even longer.
Try tying the Blood Dot in different sizes and color combinations, you really can’t go wrong.
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