Bead heads or Lead Wire

[mattmar10]

I've been fishing bead heads for many years with very little thought given to it. Now that I'm starting to get into tying a little bit, I've started to think more about getting nymphs to the bottom of the water column and the best way to do that. I know you can add shot as needed to get down there, but setting that aside, are there any advantages/disadvantages to using lead wire vs bead heads when it comes to nymphs? Do bead heads take away from the natural look of the bug? Common sense says it is less natural than lead wire because I don't see too many insects with tungsten or silver circles for heads. But then again, I know bead heads catch fish so can anyone help me out? Whats the common school of thought on this?

[mirvc17]

Here's my take on it.

Yes lead is heavy. But tungsten is heavier per volume. Lead is toxic, tungsten is not. Tungsten beads are more expensive than lead wire--significantly.

What about when you lose those nymphs to the stream bottom?

I prefer tungsten beads, but depending on the fly, a tungsten bead may not be suitable, yet you need the weight (certain patterns need the lead wire for the weight and to shape the body a certain way--example: some stonefly and caddis larva patterns).

I'd venture to say that more (modern) nymph patterns call for tungsten beads vs lead wire. I don't think beads take away from the natural look too much--in fact they often act as an attractor. You can always bury the bead in the middle of the fly and put dubbing or other material around it to conceal it.

I haven't been fly fishing and tying for that long (3+ years) but one thing I've learned is that trout (and fish in general) will eat almost anything. Think about how many thousands of fly patterns there are out there--even for one species of bug. They all work at least some of the time. Many don't look anything like what they are "imitating" yet they still catch fish.

Perfect example: Zebra midge. From what I've read, midges in some/many? rivers don't exhibit nocturnal drift as much compared to other bugs, yet they catch fish. A Zebra midge vaguely resembles a midge pupa or larva but I'd wager that a Medallion Midge pupa looks much more realistic. I've caught more fish on the zebra... (of course this could be because that pattern is getting down to where the fish are--a whole separate discussion).

When I do recover lost flies (of others, and it seems to me I find at least a few good ones each trip), I'd rather reuse those tungsten beads if the fly/hook itself can't be salvaged.

Back to that "separate discussion", getting the flies to where the fish are is more important than what the fly is constructed out of in terms of lead vs tungsten. Most of the split shot I use is by Boss Tin. Tin isn't as heavy, but it's virtually non-toxic. Boss tin shots are easily removed and reusable. I do have some Super Doux lead shot that comes in even smaller sizes than Boss Tin...

[mattmar10]

You make some very good points, especially about getting down to where the fish are. In all reality, that's probably exponentially more important than wire vs bead. Also, I should have made it more clear in my original post that the lead wire I have is actually "leadless" so it takes toxicity out of the equation.

[dainw]

I would just add that when an insect emerges, they'll get a little air bubble on their back that propels them upward to the surface. So under the right conditions, a bead head can actually be more natural looking than a non-bead head.

I think it's probably a good idea to have both. There are some days that fish won't take a bead head nymph and you need something more natural looking so to speak. There are also days when fish want something with a lot of flash and you need a bead head.

[mirvc17]

Dain,

Great points. Agree that you should have both. I've had some days where the bead-headed fly did "nothing" but get the other, non-weighted fly into the strike zone. Of course there is a possibility that it acted as an attractor, but the second fly was more in tune to what the fish were eating. And I've had the exact opposite happen too. You never know what's going to happen.

[jonbo]

Then there's the big pheasant tails I tied for use as a point fly in swift pockets such as dominate Spillway Creek now. In order to get as deep as possible as fast as possible, I use a big tungsten bead AND some lead wrap. I still haven't caught anything to speak of in the new SC, so I can't give it a hearty recommendation. Coach suggested to me swinging streamers for the big-'uns. He says the big trout are still there but you have to move around a lot to locate them.