Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Curto]

 Has anybody had any experience using trout beads, steely beads for salmon? Been getting skunked lately with roe in the clear water. I notice people having success with wool although seeing a lot of foul hooked fish. I've hooked steelhead and whitefish with the pegged beads, and it would stand to reason that an aggressive fish would hit a bead.. Just wondering if anyone has seen it done successfully or if I'm just wasting my time. Thanks!

[NothingToSnagAbout]

Was in Fred's on Sunday, overheard a customer saying he's been slaying it with blood dot beads when nothing else was working

[Noahs Arc]

They will work. Perhaps you're using to big a presentation with the roe? In these conditions I cure my roe with a natural colour cure. I think the double red colour cures the Vedder is famous for is much to bright for these conditions.
Remember some beads are neutrally buoyant and some sink like rocks and should be fished accordingly.

[Carich980]

Beads will work If set up properly. However most guys I see fish them seem to prefer the Heavy dredge Long leader setup. One guy I saw fishing recently used no float 2" lead and a 5' leader, Got them inside the mouth. He called it side drifting, according to him its popular in the states. I'm skeptical if they are biting. When ever I fish beads I Short float them like anything else & sometimes they work, Roe is still King imo.

[bobby b]

Side drifting....hmmmm... 5' leader...sounds like flossing

[spoiler]

For these low clear water conditions use a small float, 6-8lb leaders, #2 hooks and small pieces of natural roe. after 49 years fishing the Chilliwack / Vedder system I can tell you this works.
the other very important tip is to fish this set up very shallow. In water 6-8' deep you don't need any more than 3' from your float to your bait!
I have spent a lot of time over the years studying salmon and their habits and most of them will hold mid-water. If you are fishing too deep you will be drifting below the fish and the likelihood of foul-hooking them is much higher. Most fish will rise up for the bait rather than go down. Coho are especially used to looking toward the surface for their food.
the other big advantage with fishing shallow is when the float goes down it's almost always a fish!

[DanL]

Side drifting? Haha that’s a good one. It just sounds like plain old bottom bouncing (though not necessarily flossing) and has been around a long time.

As for beading, if wool or Jensen eggs work, then why not beads. They also come in a huge array of colors so if the fish are particularly selective on a given day then maybe that’s the ticket. Personally though, I’d be surprised if that was the determining factor very often for salmon in rivers.

[243Pete]

For these low clear water conditions use a small float, 6-8lb leaders, #2 hooks and small pieces of natural roe. after 49 years fishing the Chilliwack / Vedder system I can tell you this works.
the other very important tip is to fish this set up very shallow. In water 6-8' deep you don't need any more than 3' from your float to your bait!
I have spent a lot of time over the years studying salmon and their habits and most of them will hold mid-water. If you are fishing too deep you will be drifting below the fish and the likelihood of foul-hooking them is much higher. Most fish will rise up for the bait rather than go down. Coho are especially used to looking toward the surface for their food.
the other big advantage with fishing shallow is when the float goes down it's almost always a fish!

Only started doing this last year when I heard of a company called "Hevi beads" and decided to use it as an "extra" presentation option for when my roe started to either run out or just as something to get them biting.
Peg a bead about 3-4 inches from the hook, use a small to medium sized bead, and color choice usually depends on the conditions. I like the little extra weight the glass bead gives to the bait as it sits more horizontal instead of drifting the bait backwards or "sideways"

[wallygator24]

Beading has been around for a long time. Just remember that the fly guys used this technique way before us gear tossers picked up on it using a long leader as well.  I've used it with success when fishing for springers in real clear water conditions with a longer leader. Salmon do actually eat them.  The key when float fishing with them is to have your weight not hitting the bottom.  I like trout beads as they are really buoyant and don't brake like the glass heavy beads.  I have from time to time fouled hook fish but it's been minimal. 

[Curto]

I find the whitefish and trout love them, pegged an inch or 2 above the hook. You can feel them hit 2 or 3 times before the float goes down, but no luck with salmon yet. Maybe they would work better with split shots than pencil lead.

[Aki]

Have had success in clear water (both fairly slow and flowing at walking speed) with a very small bead placed in the roe loop on the hook. Light leader a little longer in very clear water and shallow floating off the bottom seems to work.

[wallygator24]

Fished today and caught some coho and springs using beads.  I was watching all these guys foul hooking fish left and right using wool.  No fouled hooked fish for me today.  I was surprised to get the coho on them though. Might have to try it again tomorrow.   

[DanL]

Peg a bead about 3-4 inches from the hook

My understanding was that pegging above the hook was more to reduce deep-hooking in C&R fisheries where the targets are actually feeding (ie bulls/cutties/trout etc). Would there be much benefit for fall salmon applications where deep hooking is not really an issue even when using roe?

I like the little extra weight the glass bead gives to the bait as it sits more horizontal instead of drifting the bait backwards or "sideways"

I'm not sure what you are referring to? Do you mean the heavier bead will drift closer to the same rate as the lead for a more natural presentation as opposed to drifting ahead of the weight and constantly getting held back?

[bobby b]

My understanding was that pegging above the hook was more to reduce deep-hooking in C&R fisheries where the targets are actually feeding (ie bulls/cutties/trout etc). Would there be much benefit for fall salmon applications where deep hooking is not really an issue even when using roe?

Yes, pegging 2"+ above the hook does reduce the chances of deep hooking. Also, in my experience when beading, if the if the bead is too close to the hook ( ie: un-pegged ) , the bead will hinder or block the hook and you may not get a good hook set.... esp when using a small hook and a med to large bead 

[bobby b]

Beads are now one of the things I always have in my arsenal. 

I have not had a chance to really get out much this year, but will next week, and beads will most certainly be one option that I will try...


Caught a few steelhead on beads last year too!!