Under what conditions do you use a bead head on a nymph and when don't you? Is it mainly determined by desired depth as determined by water speed? What about when using it as a hopper dropper combo? Is there any downside to using a bead?
Bead Head or Not
Under what conditions do you use a bead head on a nymph and when don't you? Is it mainly determined by desired depth as determined by water speed? What about when using it as a hopper dropper combo? Is there any downside to using a bead?
As far as I can figure a bead certainly helps sinkability and can reflect some light which might attract rainbows. Seems to be the new "must have" on a nymph.
Down side - I have seen two or three expensive rods chipped or even completely broken with tungsten beads hitting them. I have broken the bead when hitting the fly on a rock which wrecks the fly. They will often spook brown trout here, too glittery. They cost money.
The best nymph I have ever used is the Gold bead Hare's Ear. Brown trout seemed to like it and I think the bead was one of the reasons. I don't know anything about glass or plastic beads, just metal ones. A Copper bead matches well with burnt orange on a Woolybugger.
Doug
Enjoying the joys of others and suffering with them- these are the best guides for man. A.E.
Some nymphs will rise to the surface and grab an air bubble and return to the bottom. (there is one in the Pere Marquette River, MI that does this about 7 times a year for 2 years!) The bead may represent the air bubble.
I certainly have seen a big difference, when fishing for West Slope Cutts, between using a standard nymph, (with little or no results), then switching to a bright brass bead head of the exact same pattern and have the "action" instantly change.
I don't use the glass beads, because of the already mentioned "Shattering problem-ruined fly".
And, like Doug, I like them on all my Woolybuggers for both the weight and added attraction. I also, get a little nicer dressing on my buggers, by not having that underlayment of lead wire.
But, Gringo has an excellent point............ a tungsten, or even a soft brass bead becomes a .22 cal bullet on the forward cast and if it hits your rod.............. not nice.
You can also become a "real hater of bead head flies" if you've ever fished them in strong wind and one errant cast, pops you right behind the ear!!
Saint Paul-"The Highly Confused"
You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I use a bead head when I want the nymph to have a more vertical orientation in the water, or when I want a bit of flash at the head, sometimes both. If you are 'retrieving' the fly in still water, the bead will give you a bit of extra depth (not much), but it will change the 'look' of the fly (I think that most folks tie their nymphs too long, so adding a bead will necessarily 'shorten' the tie, given the same hook, which is not often a bad thing...). The added 'flash' seems to attract the browns where I fish, and the rainbows will hit anything....
I use lead wire on the shank when I want the nymph to fall faster in still water or bounce along the bottom in moving water. Sometimes in conjunction with a bead, when I also want that bit of flash...
If I want the nymph to track near the bottom in moving water, I'll use an unweighted nymph and add lead shot to the leader. Depth is easier to 'control' this way, while still allowing the fly some natural movement so it doesn't look like a chunk of lead in the water....
If you want that 'jigging action' that's so often written about in regard to bead heads, you really need to use a loop knot. Otherwise, the tension generated by the knot and the stffness of the leader will keep the fly from turning nose down. It wil still drop a bit faster than an unweighted fly, but it won't do that tantalizing little 'turn' that seems to evoke feeding responses in bluegills, bass, and trout.
Beads are like any other addition of weight and flash to a fly. Not good or bad, just an addition that effects the presentation. I'd not use them on all my nymphs, nor would I be without nymphs that have them.
Good Luck!
Buddy
It Just Doesn't Matter....
I like to have some nymphs tied both with and without the bead in my box. I agree with all you guys say, especially with swim action and bead head buggers, also about sticking one in your ear - yes, ouch!
I have to add though that our brownies must be more skittish than yours, beads are a definite no.
Like most flies I fish when no hatch is on; I usually choose bead heads just because I think they will work.
My go to fly for 95% of my wild trout stream fishing in late fall, winter & early spring is a bead head Prince nymph size 12. In 2007 I caught almost as many trout on that fly as a foam beetle which if you knew the way I usually fish; is pretty amazing considering I'm a dry fly and beetle fanatic.
We must have some pretty stupid wild trout here in PA because 90% of those trout I caught with bead-head nymphs were Brown Trout.
always for me, unless i fish a nymph as a dropper under a small dry
Catch and Release So Others Can Enjoy Them
Any time I feel a jig would be more productive!
Actually I find them very useful for probing the deeper holes and slots for both trout and smallmouth fishing. And adding a silver bead to some of my favorite minnow and bait fish pattern's REALLY increases the catch rate at times!.
Wish ya great fishing,Bill
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