Bps Tungsten Beads Breaking

[DaddyO]

I bought some White River 3/32 round tungsten beads (Copper in color) a couple of weeks ago from Bass Pro Shops. I used them to tie up some #14 Hair and Copper flies. These flies really catch fish. Anyway, I was on the Lower Illinois river yesterday and everytime I tied on one of these flies, I would catch a few fish and then stop catching them.

Anytime that I get a good couple of drifts through an area that I believe to be holding fish and nothing happnes, I check my fly to make sure that I don't have any moss hanging from it or anything weird going on with the fly.

When I checked the fly, the tungsten bead was gone. I thought, maybe, it had slipped off of the eye of the hook and was on the line. I checked. It wasn't. It had just broken apart and fallen off. This happened to all three of the flies that I tied out of that batch of beads.

Have you guys had this happen to any of you???

[Greg]

I use a LOT of BPS tungsten beads both in that size and the one below it. I've never had that happen? I would be willing to bet it's just a bad batch. Frustrating but I would take them back to BPS. I'm sure they would exchange them and hopefully you could get some from a different lot #.

What is a hair and copper fly? I agree that tungsten flies catch a lot of fish. I catch most of my fish on zebra midges, wooly buggers, mohair leeches and scuds - most tied with a tungsten bead.

Greg

[fishinwrench]

Yep I've had it happen with T-beads when shortline nymphing. If you whip-snap the fly on your forward casting stroke sometimes they just kinda explode. Black T-beads do it worse than the others for some reason. I've even had them do it when putting the bead on a hook (forcing it over the barb, or around the hook bend).

It's wierd cuz when the "pop" they just kinda turn to dust.

[DaddyO]

Yep I've had it happen with T-beads when shortline nymphing. If you whip-snap the fly on your forward casting stroke sometimes they just kinda explode. Black T-beads do it worse than the others for some reason. I've even had them do it when putting the bead on a hook (forcing it over the barb, or around the hook bend).

It's wierd cuz when the "pop" they just kinda turn to dust.

That is interesting. I heard that noise behind me a couple of times and I thought that I had dropped my cast, but I knew that I hadn't. I've never had this happen before, to any of my T-beads.

[DaddyO]

What is a hair and copper fly? I agree that tungsten flies catch a lot of fish. I catch most of my fish on zebra midges, wooly buggers, mohair leeches and scuds - most tied with a tungsten bead.

Greg

Greg,

Here's a pic of the Hair & Copper fly:

Hook: TMC 2487 #12 - #16 (I like #14 the best)

Head: Copper Tungsten Bead

Thread: Brown 6/0

Tail: Pheasant Tail Fibers (2 or 3)

Rib: Copper Wire

Body: Brown Dubbing

[Greg]

Interesting looking fly. Thanks.

Greg

[Don]

That's happened to me more times than I care to think. I buy my supplies from many different sources to where I can not remember what beads from what flies really came from. I usually attribute the lost tungsten to a poor backcast hitting something behind me like a rock on the shore. However, I sometimes wonder if the beads were faulty factory seconds or something like that.

Don May

[hoglaw]

If possible, maybe you could put a few wraps of mono or your same thread color between the bead and they eye? Seems like that might give it a bit of a cushion.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

I'll be honest... I've never had that happen with any beads before except glass. If anything does go wrong it is usually human error (read my fault) and not anything else.

That being said - I have never tied with the BPS t-beads.. so I should just shut up

Is it happening to anyone else ??

cheers, Brian

[DaddyO]

Is it happening to anyone else ??

Yes. To at least two others that replied to this post.