# 32" 14 lb. from westside funnel 4/29/11



## Mepps3 (Apr 23, 2006)

Boga said 14 lb.

Found her on my lunch break pushing up a creek. She smacked an orange 10 mm bead.










Check out the girth...


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## brodg (Sep 6, 2010)

Wow, I'm jealous! How do you rig the bead? Could you post a pic?


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## Mepps3 (Apr 23, 2006)

brodg said:


> Wow, I'm jealous! How do you rig the bead? Could you post a pic?


Here is how I rig it, peg the bead with a toothpick.
http://www.troutbeads.com/How_To.html


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## brodg (Sep 6, 2010)

So there is nothing on the hook? I'm confused.


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## Mepps3 (Apr 23, 2006)

brodg said:


> So there is nothing on the hook? I'm confused.


Fish sucks in the bead the hook follows


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## RiverDoc (Mar 12, 2010)

Nice fish!


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## ReelEazy (Oct 26, 2004)

Neighbor, Nice fish. Going to hit it the next few days


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## Steelaholic (Sep 5, 2009)

I caught a bunch of fish this weekend but nothing that big. Nice catch!


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## Patricio (Feb 2, 2007)

brodg said:


> So there is nothing on the hook? I'm confused.


its illegal in many areas as its a form of snagging. and yes, its actually been defined as such.


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## Mud Puppy (May 25, 2006)

I see no problem with trout beads. They are actually hitting the presentation unlike lining. People will use less steelhead eggs if they can effectively use artificials and that is a good thing. With many other boaderline ethical practices (harvest of fish for eggs and only eggs, flossing etc) why would you worry about trout beads? Maybe from definition it is considered snagging with nothing on the hook and if so the law should be changed. Lining should be outlawed before trout beads are.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

Guess tube flies are snagging too? ha.


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## Patricio (Feb 2, 2007)

Mud Puppy said:


> Lining should be outlawed before trout beads are.


its essentially lining with a bead on your line. and yes, lining is against the law. 

when the fish goes for the bead, if it does, you yank the line snagging the fish.


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## steelheader007 (Apr 8, 2004)

fallen513 said:


> Guess tube flies are snagging too? ha.


"let me cliarify a few things about tube flys for those who may be confused 
(I know you know Fallen)" Tube flys are not set up to let the line pass through a hole in the fly to let the angler impale the fish in the "side of the face". Tube flys are made up to have the hook affixed in the rear of the fly. Unlike beading where the angler has to have the fish bite the bead and set the hook after it has been pulled by the angler! Not my cup of tea and I will leave it at that! Intruder style flys still have the hook affixed in one position!


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## Mepps3 (Apr 23, 2006)

Patricio said:


> its illegal in many areas as its a form of snagging. and yes, its actually been defined as such.


So is fly fishing


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## Mepps3 (Apr 23, 2006)

steelheader007 said:


> "let me cliarify a few things about tube flys for those who may be confused
> (I know you know Fallen)" Tube flys are not set up to let the line pass through a hole in the fly to let the angler impale the fish in the "side of the face". Tube flys are made up to have the hook affixed in the rear of the fly. Unlike beading where the angler has to have the fish bite the bead and set the hook after it has been pulled by the angler! Not my cup of tea and I will leave it at that! Intruder style flys still have the hook affixed in one position!


I could show you and Patrick how to use a bead without sight fishing. Droppies and pushing fish attack them this time of year. Craig at Erie Outfitters sells them and will verify how effective they are in deeper water  BTW that 14 lb. was caught in about a foot of vis in 3-4' of water


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## Mepps3 (Apr 23, 2006)

steelheader007 said:


> "let me cliarify a few things about tube flys for those who may be confused
> (I know you know Fallen)" Tube flys are not set up to let the line pass through a hole in the fly to let the angler impale the fish in the "side of the face". Tube flys are made up to have the hook affixed in the rear of the fly. Unlike beading where the angler has to have the fish bite the bead and set the hook after it has been pulled by the angler! Not my cup of tea and I will leave it at that! Intruder style flys still have the hook affixed in one position!


I peg my bead 1/4" from the hook and have yet to hook a fish outside the mouth.


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## CARL510ISLE (Jan 8, 2010)

If done as the "how to" instructions indicate, I actually see the intent of pegging the bead, it's to keep the fish from being deeply hooked which can happen often fishing a small presentation relative to a fishes mouth size. 

Why not just fish a 25mm choaker bead right above the hook?

C510I


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

steelheader007 said:


> "let me cliarify a few things about tube flys for those who may be confused
> (I know you know Fallen)" Tube flys are not set up to let the line pass through a hole in the fly to let the angler impale the fish in the "side of the face". Tube flys are made up to have the hook affixed in the rear of the fly. Unlike beading where the angler has to have the fish bite the bead and set the hook after it has been pulled by the angler! Not my cup of tea and I will leave it at that! Intruder style flys still have the hook affixed in one position!



Sounds like the bead was pegged 2" up from the hook to me. The hook is in a fixed position until the fish strikes the bead. It's not snagging any more than a tube fly where the line passes through and breaks free when the fish hits. 

Come on.

Patricio, tell us. Tube flies are snagging too aren't they?


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## Phineous (May 19, 2010)

Here we go again...treating these fish like they are our children. Dude, unless you are not using a sharp hook you are hooking a fish through its skin, either way. Bottom line, no question. If you care about the pain that these fish go through stop hooking them period. What a joke. Yesterday I caught a 28-1/2" female that was so beat up from the high water it had huge chunks out of it's face, head and back, yet it still put up quite a fight. I am not condoning bashing the fish against the rocks or anything(nature takes care of that), but I have yet to take one to the vet to make it feel all better. Plus, I don't know Mepps3, but he sure does seem to know what he is doing if you have seen his posts.


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## salmon king (Aug 20, 2008)

Phineous said:


> Here we go again...treating these fish like they are our children. Dude, unless you are not using a sharp hook you are hooking a fish through its skin, either way. Bottom line, no question. If you care about the pain that these fish go through stop hooking them period. What a joke. Yesterday I caught a 28-1/2" female that was so beat up from the high water it had huge chunks out of it's face, head and back, yet it still put up quite a fight. I am not condoning bashing the fish against the rocks or anything(nature takes care of that), but I have yet to take one to the vet to make it feel all better. Plus, I don't know Mepps3, but he sure does seem to know what he is doing if you have seen his posts.


Phineous thank you you stole those words right out of my mouth!!!lol But I don't get it there fish dangit fish... The DNR stocks em in the rivers so that we can cach them.. some may keep them some of you tree huggers may not.. Not saying you [email protected] guys are all tree huggers but if you complain about harvesting eggs or eating them I mean c'mon guys what the heck... Like Phineous said you treat these fish as if they are your children? Dude wake up their fish ... Im not saying you can't handle them with tender loving cair but just don't call some one out on snaging just cause he uses trout beads.. Try telling thats snagging to the Guides in Alaska they use em all the dag gone time....


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## nforkoutfitters (Jan 25, 2010)

Mepps3 said:


> So is fly fishing


Please don't include all fly fishers in that group. There are some rare folks out there who indeed know how to catch chrome they cant see on a fly rod.


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## steelheader007 (Apr 8, 2004)

salmon king said:


> Try telling thats snagging to the Guides in Alaska they use em all the dag gone time....


I do cause in my book it is, and I will leave it at that well almost! They talk about the mortaility well of course if the avg joe using this tactic hooks the fish on the outside of the face drawing the line through the bead to come in contact with the first flesh it finds and depending on the bead size vs the hook size, and vs the hook distance from the bead they will most likely to be hook in the side of the face (mechanically I dont see how a fish can shut his mouth hold onto the bead with out getting hooked in his face)! Now I know most of you on here have mad ninja pellethead skillz but I cant find the fun of it! After years only since 1993 and I know alot on here that have been fishing for these things far longer than I and I just dont get it (wont be the first time)!


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

steelheader007 said:


> I do cause in my book it is, and I will leave it at that well almost! They talk about the mortaility well of course if the avg joe using this tactic hooks the fish on the outside of the face drawing the line through the bead to come in contact with the first flesh it finds and depending on the bead size vs the hook size, and vs the hook distance from the bead they will most likely to be hook in the side of the face (mechanically I dont see how a fish can shut his mouth hold onto the bead with out getting hooked in his face)! Now I know most of you on here have mad ninja pellethead skillz but I cant find the fun of it! After years only since 1993 and I know alot on here that have been fishing for these things far longer than I and I just dont get it (wont be the first time)!


Um, call me dense, but I don't understand what there is to not be gotten in this debate. The bead is on the line, with the hook below it. The fish *eats the bead* no differently than they eat a fly or a big bag of eggs. You set the hook, taking the bead away and sticking them with a hook instead.

Is it so much more pleasant for a fish to be hooked inside the mouth, or in the throat, than it is for them to be hooked in the jaw on the outside of their mouth? The point of the tactic is so they can't swallow the hook, since circle hook use with flies would be impractical, especially since steel rarely run with a fly. It was developed in Alaska since they were killing so many fish when they fished egg patterns - the fish always took them too deep. This way, they can't. 

I really don't get what the debate is about. Yes, sometimes people holding fly rods (Not fly fishermen) snag the holy hell out of fish by lining them on the redds. I've seen guys with surf rods do it too: Are surf casters all a bunch of jerks on account of this? 

IMO, snagging is hooking a fish who did NOT eat your offering. If he ate it, or tried his best, and you hook them in the cheek or the top fin or whatever, well okay. I've watched trout barrel past a woolly bugger with their mouth open and pick it up on their pectoral fin. Did that fish really want to eat? You bet he did. If you want to baby the fish, that's your thing. Feel free to gut hook and kill as many as you want fishing "proper" egg patterns, if it makes you feel less immoral.


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## BigDaddy300 (Nov 1, 2004)

Those fish hooked in the cheek, top fin or pectoral fin are without a doubt snagged fish. It may be unintentional but snagged for sure. 

Are some of you guys really gut hooking that many fish?


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## GobyOneGnoby (Apr 21, 2004)




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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

This thread inspired me to tie up some egg rigs, even though I don't fish for steelhead. I'll post pics tonight after I'm done burying my dog.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

I also tied up a tube fly just for giggles. Both rigs look like total snagging machines!


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## rsm555600 (Aug 23, 2009)

thinking about organizing a candlelight vigil for all of the hurt and abused steelhead at the end of the steelhead season. probably somewhere on the grand or chagrin. let me know if anyone is interested.

thanks


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## Steelhead Fever (Dec 31, 2009)

why do I even look into the steelhead forum?


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

I have found it to be quite the hilarious place to hang out.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

You reckon they'd bite on one of these?


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## Steelhead Fever (Dec 31, 2009)

o god......


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

Come on help me out here. Should I throw a treble hook in there somewhere?


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## ironfish (Jul 31, 2010)

Didn't one of the cenobites in the movie Hell raiser have some of those?
ironfish


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## Carpman (May 18, 2005)

From what I know, we are the last state where hookless bead fishing has NOT caught on yet. In Alaska I don't think anyone owns an egg or fly with a hook in it, they all trail behind the fly. Iv'e seen it in Michigan and New York. 

Also, if you guys think Ohio is bad for snagging, go to Burt Dam in the fall, that is the biggest snag fest ever known to man. Just youtube it.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

BigDaddy300 said:


> Those fish hooked in the cheek, top fin or pectoral fin are without a doubt snagged fish. It may be unintentional but snagged for sure.
> 
> Are some of you guys really gut hooking that many fish?


Well if the fish is a bad shot and misses the fly he wanted to eat that's hardly my fault! Maybe a hook in the cheek will learn him lol. Besides, if he tried to east, I don't call it snagging. SNAGGING is trying to hook the fish outside the mouth. It becomes a foul hook if the fish is at fault.

_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


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## KSUFLASH (Apr 14, 2004)

Burt dam is a snag fest.


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## salmon king (Aug 20, 2008)

KSUFLASH said:


> Burt dam is a snag fest.


Thats why when I go their I fish the rock island.. oops hope I didn't give it away!! LOL


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