Beads and Their Application In Fly Tying
In this article I will go over a variety of applications for beads in fly tying. The focus will be on larger fly patterns and does not include nymphs for trout etc.
For the purpose of this article I will have a look at true, round, beads only, and not cone heads or discs. Beads come in a wide variety of sizes and weights. For steelhead type patterns on hook sizes 1/0 to 4 the most common outside diameter for beads is between 4mm and 6mm. The inside hole of the bead can vary between approximately 1.5mm and 3.5mm. The smaller hole sizes around 1.5mm to 2.5mm are mostly used for hooks and small diameter plastic tubes, while the large hole sizes are used for 3mm. plastic or metal tubes.
Beads are great to help balance the fly in the water. Many flies tend to ride with the tail down, especially in slower water. Beads that are placed towards the front of the pattern will help to track the fly more horizontally. Adding weight to the front of a fly also helps in reducing rolling. Rolling happens if the fly is very symmetrical and will turn or flip around in the water. In this case faster currents are usually worse for this.
There are two common positions for beads that are placed towards the front of a fly. The first, and most common, is to use the bead for the head of the fly. These type of “bead head” or “egg-sucking” patterns are common in the steelhead fly pattern range. If beads are used in this fashion than it is important that the bead has a nice recess to allow it to cover the tie in point of the wing. Also important is the quality of the paint finish. Because the head will be the first part of the fly to hit rocks on the bottom the paint needs to be highly chip resistant. Many mass produced beads from China and India have poor paint jobs and will loose their paint very fast, which means you will be fishing a brass coloured bead instead of an orange bead…
Figure 1: High quality beads with recess and durable finish.
The second position for a bead is behind the wing. This is not as common, but a very useful application. There are a number of advantages to this position. Firstly, it is sometimes not desirable to have a “bead head” look to a fly pattern. If you want a more classic look, but still want some added weight to the front of the fly, this position works great. Secondly, this position provides a great means to prop up hackles and wings. Often dubbing balls are used for this purpose as well, but beads will provide a smaller profile and the materials can be tightened better against the bead than against a dubbing ball. When using a bead to prop wings against make sure to securely tighten against the bead for best results.
Figure 2: Example of a bead placed behind a Snowrunner brush wing.
Beads can be made of a variety of different materials. The most common materials are brass, tungsten, aluminum, soft or hard plastic and glass. By far the most commonly used material is brass. Brass provides a nice bit of weight without being excessively heavy. It is a good choice for most patterns that you want to add a bit of weight too.
Tungsten is another popular choice. Tungsten is used for patterns that need to be weighed heavily. There are a couple of things to keep in mind when doing this. Creating slack in the line and presenting upstream dramatically increase depth. Placing the bead at the very front of the fly helps the fly dive down vertically in the water column, especially with some slack and an upstream presentation. The more weight is added to a fly the more difficult it makes the casting. So the goal is always to add just enough weight to the fly to get the job done. So don’t forget about presentation techniques that will allow you to get the fly down. Over the years I have seen many fishermen use patterns that are heavier than they need to be if better presentation was used. Also, heavy patterns don’t move as well in the current and won’t look as lively.
Figure 3: Bulkley Bandit. An example of a fly pattern with a heavy tungsten bead.
If the goal is to add no, or very little, weight to the fly there are a number of choices. Aluminum, plastic, glass or dubbing/chenille. While dubbing or chenille are not truly beads they function similar to beads and can be used for certain applications. It is common to use dubbing balls as wing supports, especially for Intruder patterns. Unless the goal is to create a fly pattern with as much water displacement as possible I prefer a method of wing support that I came up with about 10 years ago. Instead of a dubbing ball I use a bead (brass or aluminum) and tie a collar of Nutria against the bead. This forms an excellent support for big wings of soft material. The combination of a bead and nutria functions much better at creating wing volume while being less buoyant. This creates an overall much better balanced fly.
Figure 4: My preferred wing support method. A bead with a Nutria collar tied against it.
On a side note, there is a bead type application that I quite like although it is not a true bead. I like using a dubbing ball around bead chain eyes. It gives a nice light weight, it’s attractive and it is inexpensive and easy to do. Simply tie in a pair of bead chain link “eyes” and create a round dubbing ball or chenille ball around them.
Figure 6: Egg-sucking Rhea Stinger.
Amongst the beads that add little weight to the fly I prefer aluminum. It’s the most durable. Glass and hard plastic tend to snap easily when hitting rock. Soft plastics tend to break down over time.
I hope this provides a bit of an overview of the types and applications of beads that are common in fly tying. Most importantly; try some new things out and do some “testing”. If you come up with something great, let me know! Id love to hear about it.
