If you've ever been on fishing trip to Alaska, you know how popular beads are. For good reason. They are extremely effective for salmon, steelhead, dolly varden, and resident rainbows.
And that's no different for our trout here in Colorado. The best times to use trout beads are the same times you would typically use egg patterns; from October-May. Why use beads at all, if you can just tie on a traditional egg pattern? Both will work, no question. However, we and a lot of other anglers find that trout beads are a more effective way to fish eggs because they are more realistic and you can have success with just about all the colors available too. Brown trout and Rainbow trout eggs can be very specific in size. Trout beads around here range from 5-7 mm in size and typically we use only 6mm beads, since they are only offered in even number mm sizes. Below, we'll show you how to "peg a bead." You can find all of these materials at our shop.
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Here are the three things you'll need to start fishing beads.
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| Tiemco's 2488H size 12 is a great hook for bead fishing. The come barbless as well. |
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| These are 6mm beads. The only size we carry and the only size you need around these parts (unless you're fishing for Kokanee, then you'll need 8mm, which we can get for you). Each pack costs from $2-$3 depending on color and paint pattern - 40-50 per pack. |
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| Although you can use simple toothpicks to peg your beads, we find that these double tapered rubber stoppers work great and provide a yolk color to your bead that could be the key to success. Since they are double tapered you can use each peggz twice to maximize your money. These come in pink, clear, and orange. |
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| Here is just another example of the many different patterns of beads that we carry. This is a mottled blood dot pattern. Brighter color eggs typically work better early in spawning times, and whiter or more opaque colors work better in mid winter as most of the real eggs turn white as they remain in the water. Fresh eggs = bright, dead eggs = creamy colors. |
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| After you've tied on your tippet and crimped your split shot just like you would with any other nymph rig, thread on your bead first, then tie on your bead hook. Then, position your bead about 1 1/2 inches above your hook and slide in your toothpick or trout peggz until the bead is tight. You should still be able to slide the bead with some force, but it won't slide around when fishing. The bead is pegged above the hook because you want to cause the least amount of damage to the fish as possible. By having the bead above the hook, you will more than likely hook the fish in the upper jaw or outside of it's mouth on the side of the jaw. This is intentional and allows you to land the fish quicker and not cause internal damage to the fish. Remember to crimp your barb before fishing. |
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| Here's what the final product should look like. Feel free to fish another fly below this as you would any other double nymph rig. You can also fish the bead below another nymph pattern if you wish. |
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Another view of the final product.
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You can also thread a bead on your hook to use for Egg Sucking Leaches. This makes the ESLs look sweet! You'll have to cut the hook to thread the bead, so these patterns are articulated. Also, you can always just thread on the bead in front of your wooly bugger or other streamers while fishing too.
Here's the cheaters guide to attaching a bead directly to your hook. A Dai Riki 135 is a good hook for this. Heat up your hook and quickly press your bead down on the hook and it'll melt right on. |
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