Bead head vs. lead wrap.

jreichel

jreichel

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Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
176
Location
Meadville, Crawford County
When your tying in weight do you prefer bead heads to lead wrap or do you use both for various reasons? In Joe Humphreys's book "Trout Tactics" he talks about weighting nymphs with lead wrap then flattening it with pliers for a more lifelike movement in the water. Has anyone tried this with any success.

The bead head approach seems to be the simplest way to tie in weight but if lead wrap is a superior method and produces a more productive fly then that's the way I would prefer to go.

Any and all input on this will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jeff
 
All of the above...sometimes the bead is just faster...I flatten the lead wraps for shape more then action but I suppose it does that too.
 
To me, getting the nymph down near the bottom is the most important thing for catching fish, and the less weight needed to be added to your tippet, the easier strike detection will be. I do tie some unweighted nymphs and fish them as emergers in the film or high up in the water column. On the other end of the spectrum, I tie some “depth charge” nymphs – very heavy for fast/deep water and for Czech nymphing. But overall, most of the nymphs I tie and fish are moderately weighted.

Even when I use a BH, I weight nearly all the nymphs I tie with lead wire. I usually wrap some wire around the shank, and push it forward into the bead to hold it in place. When tying heavy nymphs, I wrap lead wire over 2/3 of the hook shank. The diameter of the wire I use varies from .010 - .030, depending on the size of the fly and how heavily I want to weight it.
 
I use both, sometimes seperate, and sometimes together.
I'm with afish, getting the fly down quickly allows it to pass by more fishs' faces.

If it is a mayfly nymph pattern, I usually place the wight at the thorax.

I sometimes smoosh it flat, but for the reason tom said: profile.
 
Has anyone used the thin strips of lead a opposed to lead wire? A youtube video for tying pheasant tail nymph used the stips. Being new to tying, I like to explore everything.

By the way, there is wealth of tying video's on youtube. As I'm tying new flies, I've found it useful to set-up the computer behind my tying station and run the clip, pausing or reversing between each step, allowing me to catch up. Great tool for the beginner.
 
I'm tying some flies now as I write this. I agree, the most important thing is to get the fly to the bottom.
I usually use lead eyes, because the hook rides up and makes them almost snag proof.
The prob is: when I use a size 12 or smaller hook, the gigantic lead eyes that are needed to put the fly in the strike zone make the fly look unrealistic.
When I use a 12, I like to put tiny beadchain eyes on..... to make the hook ride up, and also wrap a lot of lead around the hook.
A few mins ago I didn't have any lead wire, so since I was a electronics boy in the past, I used some lead rosin core solder wire!! LOL
I really hate to use split shots in front of a fly. It gets caught on the bottom and doesn't look like a nymph at all.
 
WB,

Use lead wire to wrap the hook shank. I use size .010 lead wire for the smallest flies to .030 for the largest. Even with a BH fly, I wrap the shank with lead wire and push it into the bead.

BTW, a curve shank hook (like TMC 2457 / 2487) wrapped with lead will turn hook point up in the water like using lead eyes. Good luck.
 
On a bugger you could even use shot under the materials -- if you don't have lead wire.
 
Brass bead heads are not that heavy to get many nymphs deep enough to fish properly. I think lead wire is the way to go. You can wrap lead wire around the hook shank, or tie two strips of lead wire parallel to the shank to get a flat bodied effect. If you wish to use bead heads to get the fly deep, try tungsten beads. They are twice as heavy and will give your wet flies a jigging action (if you want that.)
 
Montcopo wrote:
Brass bead heads are not that heavy to get many nymphs deep enough to fish properly. I think lead wire is the way to go. You can wrap lead wire around the hook shank, or tie two strips of lead wire parallel to the shank to get a flat bodied effect. If you wish to use bead heads to get the fly deep, try tungsten beads. They are twice as heavy and will give your wet flies a jigging action (if you want that.)
Click to expand...

I agree. Also on smaller flies using the lead around the hook and omitting the bead head allows more room to get a good head and properly dimensioned thorax. I then tie a small piece of red thread around the head to differentiate them from my un-weighted flies.
 
Bead heads are really a great way of using weight effectively and also getting that nice look..

Out of my pheasant tails almost all of my PT's are tied with bead heads. To each his own I would guess, I just think it's the better method and easier to tie off (I don't use a whip finishing tool..).

I've finished reading it, but I think there may be a segment in Barr Flies (creator of Copper John, Jumbo John, etc.) discussing the pros and cons of using bead heads in trout waters.

It seems that trout in FFO areas and DHALO don't strike bead headed nymphs, etc as much as they do non beaded.

I would guess that they've caught onto the look, and when feeding are pretty eerie of taking a bead headed PT.

Then again he's not talking about the Pennsylvania DHALO or FFO area, but rather bigger stretches of water that recieve higher angling pressure.

If weight is really an issue, and you like the bead head look just add some split shots above the fly.
 
FlyFisherman PA wrote:


".....segment in Barr Flies (creator of Copper John, Jumbo John, etc.) discussing the pros and cons of using bead heads in trout waters.

It seems that trout in FFO areas and DHALO don't strike bead headed nymphs, etc as much as they do non beaded.

I would guess that they've caught onto the look, and when feeding are pretty eerie of taking a bead headed PT.

Then again he's not talking about the Pennsylvania DHALO or FFO area, but rather bigger stretches of water that recieve higher angling pressure."




Don't believe everything your read. BHs often work very well in SR sections of streams. I use both BH & non-BH flies and let the fish decide.

Also, even the most popular "bigger stretches of water" out-west receive much LESS pressure than most of the SR waters in PA. I've found, if you can catch fish in the pressured waters of PA, the fish out-west are a piece of cake.

Keep tying & fishing BHs........
 
I either use lead wraps with a beadhead or i go unweighted. (streamers excepted) If i use a bead head its not usually for the weight so much as it is for the fact that i just think that some flies only work as BH, for the rest i go unweighted. I like going with unweighted nymphs for a few reasons, first i think unweighted nymphs act a lot more like the naturals in the current than weighted nymphs do, second i don't relish the thought of trying to keep track of which nymphs are unweighted and which have lead underneath, third i find that shiny bead heads spook some fish on sunny days so i tend not to use them on most patterns and even go without metal rib whenever possible for the same reason. Of course i could go with non shiny bead heads, though then there is the action of the fly again.
 
I probably caught 80 percent of all my trout this year on a Bead head Hare's Ear size 12 to 16. Others on lead wrapped wooly buggers and some double wrapped. I also started to tie a lead bodied san juan worm. I just wrap light brown thread over the lead to give the appearance of an earthworm's midsection. I call it JAKE'S EARTHWORM. "JAKE'S EARTHWORM" is killer, and I shouldn't let it go, but it's amazing what a few wraps of lead, some chenelle and some brown thread on a hook can do in a medium depth pool or even a riffle. I caught a beautiful wild Brownie on the very first one I tied. It was created out of boredom. I gave that very fly to some old guy with a short old bamboo rod at "The Run" and he caught a nice brown trout with it, then he took it off, put it in his box, as if reserving it for a special place in mind. I wonder if he still has that one.
 
Maybe I might change it to JAKE'S NIGHTCRAWLER

JAKES NIGHTCRAWLER could be abbreviated "J.N.C."

JAKE'S EARTHWORM would just be called the "J.E.W."

It would be awkward it I were asked what I were using and had to reply I have a JEW at the end of my line. It might be misinterpreted.

Any suggestions
 
J.G.H.? (Jake's Garden Hackle)
J.H.W? (Jake's Heavy Worm)

post a pic if you have one - i'm not quite picturing how the thread-wrapped red blends with the chenile worm body.... and i'm intrigued - wanna tie a few and try them ..whatever you call it
 
I went to get one and I'm out. Let me tie one and snap some photos. Ok here they are. I usually leave more chenelle sticking out the front of the hook eye and also the back too. I also tie them this way even if I don't use the lead but I like that I can get these down "there".
 
AhhH!!! thank you! i wasn't getting the fact that you wrapped the lead around the chenille. I guess i was just so used to wrapping lead being the first thing i do on a fly - interesting indeed. I'm gonna try it right now - thanks
 
I ment to say Vermille .

Vermille
Light brown thread
size .020 lead wire
Size 12-16 curved nymph hook

1. Tie in the vermille

2. Wrap 2/3 or 3/4 of hook in lead

3. Cover lead with the light brown thread entirely

4. Whip finish it and put it in your vest
 
Jake, whatever you end up calling it thats a good looking fly, and a very innovative way of tying it. I'm not sure i would have thought of wrapping the lead over the chennile, nice thought, well executed.
 
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