Brass Beads on "jig" nymph hooks

[Sylvaneous]

So i'm not planning on buying packs of super-expensive slotted tungsten beads for jig nymph hooks. I have lots of brass ones. I really like the jig hook in theory, but having just tied my 1st few last spring, I don't have a lot of experience fishing them. Like you, I've tied standard nymphs for decades and won't scrap my back-stock of nymphs.
I ran into the problem of not being able to thread some sized beads up over the jig bend in the shank of some sized hooks.

First, are there any recommendations of what fits better with what? This would require an industry insider-like mix-and-match trials.
Next, before I take-off and start trying to find the answer myself, has anyone found a technique to help with this? I'm thinking maybe filing a small slot myself. Usually the sticking point is pretty close to making it over the shank bend. Making a bit of a slot may make the difference. I don't have a tiny file, though. And I don't look forward to doing 'surgery' on a little bead. But the idea of my nymphs not picking up scum and detritus off the bottom is VERY attractive to me.

Syl

 

[kobalt335]

Check out blue quill angler, they have a pack of 50 slotted tungsten for $11.95. I use them and have no issues.

 

[djs12354]

FWIW - I use regular beads on the jig hooks. Usually am adding lead wire and I use that to hold the bead as tight to the eye as I can get it.

Dave

 

[allan_s]

Trout legend sells slotted tungsten and brass beads.

The slotted brass beads are a dollar and slotted tungsten are 4 dollars for packs of 25.

At those prices I would probably just buy slotted beads and save the trouble.

 

[afishinado]

Add a regular bead (tungsten or brass) and tie in your weighted wire from the behind the bead toward the center of a scud hook or any curved hook. It will flip point up, like a jig hook.

No special jig hooks or slotted beads needed to buy or tie.

I use this method as my go-to nymph tie.

 

[nfrechet]

use a bigger bead if it doesnt fit around the bend

http://flytyingnewandold.blogspot.com/2014/05/slotted-beads.html

 

[dano]

An old trick some of the old timers here showed me.
Slip a bead over a push pin, snip the pin to length and tie it on top of a down eyed hook with the bead extending slightly past the hook eye. They fished these off a float. Of course, back then there wasn't as many options as we have today.

 

[Skook]

I've not tried this myself, but somewhere I read that a traditional bead head nymph can be fished hook-up like a jig if you tie the fly onto the tippet with an "upside down" Turle knot.

The Turle knot runs the tippet through the eye, and the knot itself is normally seated just behind the eye on the hook shank. On a bead head nymph, you would run the tippet through the bottom of the eye, instead of the top, as usual, and seat the Turle knot over top of and behind the bead because the bead is set where the knot normally would be on a non-beaded hook. Having the tippet come through the eye from the bottom up with the knot seated behind the bead should cause the fly to be fished "upside down" with the hook riding up.

As I said, I haven't tried it, but it does make some sense to me.