# Beads...steelhead...help.



## twistedcatfish1971

I have picked up a few steelhead magazines lately and have come across a few articles about BEAD fishing/tactics. I'm intrigued about this and although from what I've read within these magazines is quite useful...i would like to read some of your responses about this type of fishing with beads.

Right now I'm a spoon tossing robot lol! And I've had sucess with hardware lately. But when I'm in da garage and looking at pictures/notes/and reading about posts where some of you guys are slaying steel with sacs/bead fishing/swinging/and having success with steelhead traditional methods...I feel like I'm looking up. <that make sense>

...im an accomplished fisherman but like everyone who is passionate and likes to push/expand their experience with steelhead...I want to evolve with my approach to this insanity of river steelhead!

Ok...I got the area down with spoons lol. So my #1 question has to do with beads? Is this a easy type of tactical method? And is this considered another form of fishing for steelhead that some people consider NOT traditional? Listen the last few years that I've targeted this fish I've come across people that have said to me or I've heard them say to others in close ear shot that what I was doing <spoon/spinners> was somewhat cheating? Don't get me wrong bc...if I'm in a mood and you are saying something that doesn't compute with me ... I'll let ya know it. I just want to try to become a polished steelhead fisherman. 

...steelhead...what a great fish to fish for. Like many other species you can catch alot of different ways but steelhead is on a different level! You have the early stage at river mouths/harbors and then the rush with that 1st rain/gush of outflow. Then the timing and difficulty of trying to pin point of when they make their run up the river's. ..now it's only October! Then from October on through November it's almost easy to catch these fish. Then the ice/cold weather sets in...this is where I have talked to 2 people this past year about spoons/hardware fishing...one guy told me he has been steelhead-ing for 35 years and tosses spoons up until Thanksgiving...then he floats sacs/beads and actually does better than spoons. 

Sorry so long of a post...just am very curious about Bead fishing and when to start this method? Also curious about some of your approaches going into <steelhead > season. 

Thanks now and really appreciate what OGF'ers bring to the table.

...going to chagrin river outfitters soon to pick their brains about a few things. 

Stay twisted people. 

Don.

...a few pictures of steel...goosebumps...lol!


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## twistedcatfish1971

...another note...hard beads soft beads? Geeezzzz...can there be a insane amount of ways to catch this fish? 

For me personally...muskie are easy and I don't even try for them lol. 

Don.

...although lately <past 4 years > its westbranch lol !


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## midoh39

If I make it out tomorrow I was going to try beads for a little bit, I’ll let you know how it goes! (If I go)
This is my first season truly fishing for steelhead. I had a good teacher who took me under his wing so my learned curve really shortened. I’m very comfortable float fishing but I still am trying to perfect my drifts. I’d love to learn how to fish spoons and spinners without losing 5 in a day


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## Osmerus

Beads really shine when fishin is tough in low clear waters. You can run two or one on your line. I usually just go with one bead at the bottom of a 6lb leader with a size 10 or 8 hook. They dont get down as fast so i tend to only use them when the fish are holding in shallower areas of the river. Fall and spring when the rivers are warmer. Pretty basic attaching them to your line. You can use a broken off toothpick or clear bead pegs which you can buy. If your running them in deeper waters you need to have a little longer leed from your float to the bead. Longer than the depth of the river where your fishing. Also helps to stagger your split shot a lil further down the line.


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## fishfray

Osmerus said:


> Beads really shine when fishin is tough in low clear waters. You can run two or one on your line. I usually just go with one bead at the bottom of a 6lb leader with a size 10 or 8 hook. They dont get down as fast so i tend to only use them when the fish are holding in shallower areas of the river. Fall and spring when the rivers are warmer. Pretty basic attaching them to your line. You can use a broken off toothpick or clear bead pegs which you can buy. If your running them in deeper waters you need to have a little longer leed from your float to the bead. Longer than the depth of the river where your fishing. Also helps to stagger your split shot a lil further down the line.


They make glass steelhead beads which get down much much quicker than standard beads, really a great option in faster and deeper areas. Just in case you didn't know 

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## TRIPLE-J

midoh39 said:


> If I make it out tomorrow I was going to try beads for a little bit, I’ll let you know how it goes! (If I go)
> This is my first season truly fishing for steelhead. I had a good teacher who took me under his wing so my learned curve really shortened. I’m very comfortable float fishing but I still am trying to perfect my drifts. I’d love to learn how to fish spoons and spinners without losing 5 in a day


the trick to starting out fishing hardware is to make your own spoons and spinners...you are gonna lose them its just the nature of the beast. you will lose a lot less once you get the ""FEEL"" for it.... but its a lot easier to lose a $1.50 spoon than a $4.50 spoon anyday no matter who you are...
ive been making my own for idk 30 plus years now...and still love it...I learned the hard way too... and then had three sons that all fished so you can imagine the spoons I went thru ...lmao...but it was worth every penny


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## kapposgd

I pm'd you a link to an old bead thread with lots of good info. I'll add that beads aren't nearly as effective in frog water as they are in fast water. And specifically in ohio tribs, the best bead bite occurs in the spring. Stick with plastic and soft beads for our waters, they are made to be close to neutrally buoyant and do the best job of mimicking real eggs. Your best case scenario to light them up on beads = fishing at the head of a hole directly below spawning fish in spring

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## connertrost

I like glass beads


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## Eyes on te ice

I have been following OGF for about six months now but this is my first post. I love all the quick responses and the different opinions of the people on here. I have been fishing chrome since the day I was walking to school and one jumped up on the ice in front of me ( I didn't make it to school that day)! My favorite is throwing KO's or cleos off the break wall in the fall. But when they get in the crick or river I use soft ( Death Roe ) beads. I kill them if I stand Above a good rip and drift them down. If it is a pretty smooth bottom I will run them without a float with just a split shot or two. I also love small spoons and spinners on 4# line. Sorry for the long answer.


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## Runfish

I damn near stoped using egg patrern flies in the spring when I discovered beads a few years ago. They have been that goood to me. Cheap too... I rather loose them then egg patterns that I spent hours tying! 

Don’t get stuck on buying “real” tackle. It’s amazing what you can find at craft stores!


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## rickerd

I'm sure that article makes beads out to be the best artificial since the Copper John Nymph. Truth is you can catch them on many things and beads do work. I find the best luck with eggs that are neutrally buoyant and I get them down with a little shot. I had a friend who uses those puff balls from a craft store in 1/8 inch size mostly on a hook. There are days he kills it. I have never been able to put those dam things on a hook and a bead is much easier. 

Keep in mind there are places in MI where beads are unlawful. During Salmon season some sections you will be fined if caught with beads in your possession even. I guess that is how good they work.
Rickerd


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## hailtothethief

I used to use the red puff balls for bass fishing. Never tried em for steelhead. 

I caught steel on yellow beads 3 inches above hook with a wax worm on the hook years ago. I’ll have to give it a whirl again.


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## bustedrod

remember its just a fish ... hahahhahha


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## twistedcatfish1971

Yea I know lol...I tend to over do it sometimes. Fished along time now and only really have applied things like crappy weather/west and east winds...along with other directions. Pressures with fronts/storms and things like noticing bait fish and seagulls/birds. Sometimes I want it all and now...that's why westbranch dam is my SPOT! 

...the walk out the sunsets the time to reflect...and that little mink that once came up and stole my cutbait LOL. when I think about it...most of the times that I've been successful is when i JUST went fishing.

Thanks,
Don.


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## steelhead sniper 860

I heard that They tend to guthook fish sometimes from an old timer, never used them before


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## Raeman70

steelhead sniper 860 said:


> They tend to guthook fish sometimes probably why they are unlawful in Areas


 Bead should be about 3" from the hook depending on how aggressive the fish are feeding. The colder the water, the less they are willing to move and will just sip the bead in. This means your float takes a bit longer to show the fish is on. In this situation, you might need to move the bead further from the hook. In warmer water the fish will be more aggressive and attack the offering almost hooking themselves before the bead gets down their gut. So, placing the bead closer to the hook will help with gut hooking.


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## bassclef

steelhead sniper 860 said:


> They tend to guthook fish sometimes probably why they are unlawful in Areas


It's either that or the fact that a significant percentage of the time, a percentage that increases with the distance between the bead and the hook, the fish end up hooked just outside of their mouths. So then, going by the the letter of the law, that's technically a snagged fish.


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## twistedcatfish1971

Good information guy's. That's the last thing I want is gut hooked fish. I'm still going to experiment with this method as I do keep some fish but not all.

Thanks

Don.


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## Raeman70

bassclef said:


> It's either that or the fact that a significant percentage of the time, a percentage that increases with the distance between the bead and the hook, the fish end up hooked just outside of their mouths. So then, going by the the letter of the law, that's technically a snagged fish.


AKA, Flossing


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## kapposgd

You're getting some very incorrect information here. Beads were invented by elite fly fishing guides in Alaska who were fed up with deep hooking natural fish with egg flies. By setting the hook further from the bead they virtually eliminated deep hooking fish. I have been fishing beads since around 2005, have caught thousands of fish on them, and I cannot recall a single instance of deep hooking a fish. That said, if I was practicing some of the pointers mentioned here that probably wouldn't be the case. Before writing this I contacted two friends who have guiding with beads before most people in steelhead alley heard of a bead. Both of them cannot recall a single case when they deep hooked a fish on a bead.

To explain why it works it's best to understand how a trout gets deep hooked when eating your egg presentation. They slurp them in like you would take a shot of whiskey. With traditional egg flies, by the time you react the fly is already in their gullet. But with beads, while the bead may be in gullet the hook is resting further down the line in the mouth of the fish. When you set the hook, the bead come back out and the hook catches right in the mouth. Decreasing the distance between the hook and the bead will only lead to more fish being gut hooked. If you leave too long of a tag end the hook will be outside the mouth, mostly resulting in a missed fish and sometimes hooking one outside the mouth. 

Flossing does happen with this technique when you're using a fly rod. But if you're throwing them on a float it shouldn't even be part of the discussion, because its damn near impossible to line a fish with a vertical presentation. 

Hooking fish outside of the mouth when using a float is very very rare. But when it does happen it is usually because a small fish took your bead. The smaller fish dont have a big enough mouth to get the hook inside at the same time as the bead. 

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## Raeman70

kapposgd said:


> You're getting some very incorrect information here. Beads were invented by elite fly fishing guides in Alaska who were fed up with deep hooking natural fish with egg flies. By setting the hook further from the bead they virtually eliminated deep hooking fish. I have been fishing beads since around 2005, have caught thousands of fish on them, and I cannot recall a single instance of deep hooking a fish. That said, if I was practicing some of the pointers mentioned here that probably wouldn't be the case. Before writing this I contacted two friends who have guiding with beads before most people in steelhead alley heard of a bead. Both of them cannot recall a single case when they deep hooked a fish on a bead.
> 
> To explain why it works it's best to understand how a trout gets deep hooked when eating your egg presentation. They slurp them in like you would take a shot of whiskey. With traditional egg flies, by the time you react the fly is already in their gullet. But with beads, while the bead may be in gullet the hook is resting further down the line in the mouth of the fish. When you set the hook, the bead come back out and the hook catches right in the mouth. Decreasing the distance between the hook and the bead will only lead to more fish being gut hooked. If you leave too long of a tag end the hook will be outside the mouth, mostly resulting in a missed fish and sometimes hooking one outside the mouth.
> 
> Flossing does happen with this technique when you're using a fly rod. But if you're throwing them on a float it shouldn't even be part of the discussion, because its damn near impossible to line a fish with a vertical presentation.
> 
> Hooking fish outside of the mouth when using a float is very very rare. But when it does happen it is usually because a small fish took your bead. The smaller fish dont have a big enough mouth to get the hook inside at the same time as the bead.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk



Same thing I just said....


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## twistedcatfish1971

...well thanks again for all the input fellows. I just got back from chagrin river outfitters and purchased some beads/hooks and gathered some information. Great store and helpful people at CRO. I'm going with a set rig of bead 1.5 to 2 inches from hook with a split shot or 2 about 12 to 14 inches from hook with strike indicator. Again thanks and tight lines.

Don.


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## A-5

twistedcatfish1971 said:


> Good information guy's. That's the last thing I want is gut hooked fish. I'm still going to experiment with this method as I do keep some fish but not all.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Don.


They (beads) do not gut hook fish. They actually sit right outside the mouth for easy release 
Just like that. That’s a custom bead I made


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