I recently saw a forum post that said you can only use slotted beads when using the latest fad in jig style fly hooks. I personally think its an incorrect statement .
Another statement involved using lead wire in conjunction with the slotted bead to more or less fill in the slot and to obviously add a little more weight. Well that's all well and good but....
And there's the statement about the gaping hole of the round bead at the tie off point of the fly! Well what about the gaping hole left by the SLOTTED bead?
Slotted beads are easier to clear a barb if you're not using barbless hooks. Its also pretty easy to pinch down the barb!
So I experimented on my own to see if a round bead could be used on a jig style hook that tyers say only a slotted bead should be used.
I used the following materials for my crude test:
Hends brand BL120 60 degree bent hook in a size 8 (shank diameter of .024 thousandths of a inch/0.6096mm)
Note: Most of today's hook manufacturers make a similar style hook.
I used a counter drilled round bead
I also used a 5/32 inch diameter (0.15625 inches/3.9688mm) slotted round bead
.020 inch/0.508mm diameter Lead Wire
So that's what I used for my little experiment
Here are some photos of the results.
Slotted Bead
Round Bead
Slotted Bead with .020 inch/0.508mm diameter Lead Wire
Round Bead with .020 inch/0.508mm diameter Lead Wire
As the photos indicate a round bead can be used in conjunction with the jig style hooks and can also accept the lead wire to fill in the counter drilled hole on the round bead whereas the slotted bead cannot accept lead wire to fill in the slot unless flattened and inserted into the slot.
While this little experiment was done using one size hook and one size bead (slotted and round),
I would expect the results may be the same for different sizes.
This experiment is not earth shattering nor will it turn the tying world upside down. It was only meant to dispel the statements that round beads do not work with these jig style hooks.
Thanks for looking.
