The Magic Of Beads

treblig

Well-Known Member
I love being a pro staff/ field tester . Christmas has come early . Another batch from Steelybeads for the steelhead season. Using their new peg system you able to utilize the peg for three beads. Beads have been used very successfully in Alaska and its slowly spreading. If you have followed my sockeye, coho and spring salmon adventures on the Somass River you saw the fantastic results.

If anyone else has had result with beads lets share with your adventures .

Stay tune for the 2016 steelhead journal

gil
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Love beads, work great on picky steelhead.
Lots of people use them in the lower mainland, however most ppl fish them.with a longer leader and think they are biting when infact theynare just lining/flossing them.

Love the colours hopefuly will get more soon.
 
I look forward to that Matt. How is the level of our flow? I will probably going next Tuesday or Wednesday . It will be nice to hook up again and share a adventure.
 
Love beads, work great on picky steelhead.
Lots of people use them in the lower mainland, however most ppl fish them.with a longer leader and think they are biting when infact theynare just lining/flossing them.

Love the colours hopefuly will get more soon.

I know about the flossing. Hopefully we don't go off the topic of beads.

We use about 20-30 inches of leader with the bead set 1-2 inches above the hook so when they pick it up its not down the throat or near the gills. It has been well documented that the salmon and steelhead do pick them up. Its why they pick up roe, artificial worm, fly's ,corky's , hard lures like spoon, Spinners and my favourite Ghost shrimps. Three reasons I believe . One its instinct for them to eat it. So they are biting out of instinct Even though their throat are restricted not allowing them to swallow. Two I also read an article that they ( salmon ) will try to destroy other competitive salmon fertilized eggs also. Three it pure aggression that something is coming into their space and they don't like it.


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What were the hot colours for the Somass sockeye?

We tested 8mm,10mm,12mm and only the 8 mm seem to attract them. The colour for us that worked vary from a translucent orange, pink, peach, and a very bright translucent 8mm reddish purple. When we compared the sockeye eggs to the beads and its the 8mm that matched.

Note. When the beads were tested on the Chum salmon only the 12mm worked
 
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... How is the level of our flow?

Big, Brown and Roaring just now Buddy. The constant rains have her way on the high side. Need a few clear days to let her settle down...

Looking forward to hooking up with you again too my Friend.
Hunting season will end in early December... ;)

Cheers,
Nog
 
Most often the leader varies from 20 to 30 inches. I do use a 4 foot leader when in slow shallow clear water so the pencil lead doesn't spook them as I like the lead to tap on the bottom while the bead is moving allot slower. If I fish fast water I prefer shorter 20-30 inches. I do pre tie the leaders and store them in RIGRAP cases with 4 foot length so its easier to cut back under different water condition. I have not tried clear beads yet. I use 12 pound fluorocarbon when fishing the rivers. I also use it for beach fishing.
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For steelhead I am not sure . I am a bug and roe bag angler for many years and using beads will be new to me even though I have used cork's and spin/glo successfully. I think old school is how I will approach it, Dirty water and high you keep a short leader and clear shallow water it needs to be a long leader so they will not spook.

I know other angler are very successful to the short float method. Also using split shots. I think everybody will be comfortable with their own technique. I like to feel my pencil lead tap along the bottom and if I need it to rise I will hold back the line while free spooling the drift .

My lead is encased in parachute chord. This allow very little friction to catch on the bottom. I also like the weight to slide freely on the main line . Again my preference as I feel I can feel the lighter touches of the steelhead
 
A PAUSE FOR A MOMENT:

At the end of the day a forum is only as strong as its members. I hope this display of unity opens the door to other members to share. Yes we are allowed an opinion but with respect and ethics. I really mean it and care as an angler who want to share and mentor others as I still have lots to learn.

NOW BACK TO BEADS;
I borrowed this from Beads Fishing 101

What Size Hook Is Best?

A lot of this is personal preference. But here is a short primer.

6mm Beads: Hook sizes 6-10

· Size 6 or 8 are for general use.

· Size 10’s are good for spooky fish or low water.

8mm Beads: Hook sizes 4-8

· Size 6 is a good general size.

· Size 4 is good for larger trout.

· Size 8 for spooky trout.

10mm Beads: Hook Sizes 2-6

· Size 4 works best, but 6's will work too.

· Size 2 hooks are for larger fish.

12mm and 14mm Beads: Hooks 1/0-4

· Size 2 and 4 are best for trout.

· Size 1 and 1/0 are good for steelhead.
 
This guy same thing fishing big leader in fast water and a bead.
The bead is an awesome flossing lure when fished with 4ft leaders in faster water.
 
All jokes aside...steelybeads work awesome, when fished on a short leader.
Do you have a link where we can buy them direct?
 
Pegging the bead. I always wondered why the old angler I met was alway chewing on a tooth pick. It was to make it soft so his light leader was not damaged when pegging. Today technology has created synthetic pegs. from rubber bands to hard tapered plastic pegs and now soft stretchy pegs that grip around the line firmly . These are called Steelybead slip stop bead pegs. Your able to peg at least three beads with one length of peg and little waste. They hold the bead to the line from slipping very firm without damaging the line.

There are other methods like knots, loops, slip stoppers,. Has anybody else been successful with other ways to hold the bead?

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Its a bit less convenient then pegs but I have always just tied a blood knot of mono above and below the bead.
Allows me to slide it up or down if need be.
 
Its a bit less convenient then pegs but I have always just tied a blood knot of mono above and below the bead.
Allows me to slide it up or down if need be.
If it work there is nothing wrong .... once when I was using a corky I dropped my toothpicks in the river so I was sitting on a rock whittling away on a twig with my knife. It worked.
 
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I love this quote from Bill Monroe:

Why fish bite beads: Alsbury, the biologist, agrees it's probably a natural instinct for a steelhead to suck in what it believes to be a single egg; a learned feeding reaction from growing up in rivers before heading to sea.

"But there's another hypothesis out there that the female is trying to put the egg back in the redd," he said.

Which might explain a hen steelhead's bite, but what about males that also bite?

...Maybe the female told him to.



-- Bill Monroe
 
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