By: Andy Bliss
I’ve been fishing egg sacs for brown trout and steelhead for over 25 years, and to be honest, the spawn sac game—especially from a guide’s perspective—is pretty simple: you just need a lot of them. That said, I’m always looking for ways to make my sacs more effective and more appealing to fish. You can constantly change colors or tweak your cure, but I’ve found something even more impactful—adding yarn to the tying process.
The concept is straightforward. My goal is to make every drift count like it’s the first drift. The yarn acts like a sponge, soaking up scent and holding onto any extra juice in your container. This helps create a stronger, longer-lasting scent trail in the water while still using a traditional spawn sac.
It also adds a major visual advantage. The yarn creates a bold “hot spot” that really stands out. In the past, I could only achieve subtle color changes by using different tying threads, but with yarn, that color contrast becomes much more pronounced. Even better, you can control both the size and intensity of that color.
You can adjust it based on conditions. In clear water, I use a smaller piece of yarn so the hot spot isn’t overwhelming. In higher or dirtier water, I go bigger and brighter to help fish locate the bait more easily.
Another key advantage is scent retention. When the bite gets tough, experimenting with different scents can make a big difference, and the yarn helps hold that scent much better than eggs alone. For steelhead and browns, I prefer using Fire Gel in trout, shrimp, steelhead, and anise scents.
How To Add the Yarn
You can practice this technique with any color spawn netting by using a contrast in yarn color. Meanwhile, I’m seeing the best results with white Atlas Mike’s 3×3 netting.
Most of us know how to tie egg sacs. Lay out your favorite color of 3×3 Atlas Mike’s spawn netting. I fill it with Natural BorX O Fire cured eggs and then cut a piece of yarn. I’ve been using Atlas Mike’s Glow Yarn. Place the yarn on top of the spawn (BorX O Fire cured eggs) and tie the bag. Many anglers using various colors of Magic Thread. I’ve been using Miracle Thread Clear.
Editor’s Note: Veteran guide Andy Bliss operates Chasin Tail Adventures. He provides drift boat steelhead trips, big lake trolling excursions and open water light tackle lake trout trips. For more info on his trips: https://chasintailadventures.com.