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Using Beads to Make Egg Flies

By Scott Richmond

Imitating salmon roe with beads. How to select and/or paint beads. Different sizes and colors for different species. But first--is it really fly fishing? And does that matter?

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lies that imitate the roe (eggs) of other fish can be very effective at certain times of the year. In Alaska, for example, fly anglers pursuing 5-10 pound rainbow trout in the fall have their best fishing when their flies precisely mimic salmon roe, which is the primary source of protein for Alaska rainbows.

A Caveat

If you think that flies imitating fish eggs in general--and salmon eggs in particular--are "bait" without the odor, and if you are unconvinced that an egg "hatch" can be as demanding as matching a mayfly hatch on a spring creek, then this article is not for you. Also, if you feel it just isn't a fly unless it's a hook with fur and feathers on it, this article is not for you. Otherwise, read on.

Shooing Off Grizzlies

Alaskan trout may see roe from four or five species of Pacific salmon, each species producing eggs of a different size and color. Further, for each type of egg there are different "stages"--dead, fertilized, fresh, etc. When you consider all permutations of size, color, and stage, you see that there are a lot of possible combinations.

Alaskan trout can become highly selective to the size and color of the eggs, as well as to the depth, speed, and naturalness of your presentation. In fact, Alaska fishing guides can be so possessive and secretive about what egg patterns are working best, that they have been known to wade chest deep through raging frigid currents, shooing away grizzly bears and knocking over moose, just to retrieve their client's egg imitation from a snag so a rival guide won't learn their secret color or painting technique.

Okay, I admit that's an exaggeration; I made up the part about the moose.

Matching the Egg Hatch

You can't pick the right color and size simply by seeing what species of salmon is currently spawning in your river. Salmon enter rivers and spawn in seasonal waves. Thus a sockeye may dig a redd in September, but there may also be drifting chinook salmon eggs that were laid in the gravel weeks before. The trout may be taking either the sockeye eggs or the chinook eggs. Further, they will have a preference for a certain stage of the egg.

The only way to pick the right egg imitation is by experimentation. You should carry lots of different eggs to cover all possible scenarios. Once you find a working solution, you'll need to stay alert because trout may change their preference during the day or on a different part of the river.

As a basic guideline, here are the diameters of eggs for different species of fish (courtesy of Jacob Lund of CountrySport Limited)

1. Chinook salmon: 8.0 mm to 12.0 mm
2. Coho salmon: 7.0 mm
3. Sockeye salmon: 6.0 mm
4. Pink salmon: 6.8 mm
5. Steelhead: 5.2 mm
6. Rainbow trout: 5.2 mm
7. Whitefish: 5.2 mm

Bead Eggs

Most Alaskan anglers use plastic beads to imitate salmon roe. You can buy bead eggs from several sources, including www.trouteggs.com or a fly shop that is used to supplying Alaska-bound anglers.

Some beads are useable just as you buy them. Jad Donaldson of Kaufmann's Streamborn in Tigard, Oregon, uses unpainted beads that the shop buys in a wide variety of colors and finishes. They require no additional doctoring before being used.

Jacob Lund of CountrySport prefers beads from Trout Beads (www.troutbeads.com). Jacob's favorite colors are tangerine, natural roe, orange clear, glow roe, dirty roe, washed pink, and peach fuzz.

Jacob uses all but the peach fuzz unpainted, but he will also paint some of the tangerine, natural roe, and orange clear with fingernail polish. The purpose of painting a bead is to give it the subtle hue of an egg that has milt on it. Jacob paints the peach fuzz bead with a small orange dot to simulate an egg that is starting to develop.

When painting a bead, select a fingernail polish that has a pinkish-ivory tint. Guides can be quite secretive about their favorite fingernail polishes, but if you're persistent and schmooze them enough they might tell you what brand and shade they use (then threaten you with bodily harm if you publish it in on the internet).

Before painting a bead, open a window! Fingernail polish has potent solvents that you don't want to smell too long. To paint a bead with fingernail polish, put the bead on a round toothpick. Hold the nailbrush up to the bead and roll the toothpick with the fingers of your other hand so the polish goes on evenly and covers all the bead. You don't want a gloppy finish; make is smooth. Gloppy finishes usually come from getting too much fingernail polish on the brush. Also, avoid getting polish on the toothpick; if you do, polish may pull off the bead when you remove the toothpick. When the bead is painted, stick the toothpick in a block of styrofoam or similar material while the polish dries.

Some guides like to put on two coats of polish. The second coat is a different color and gives the bead a 3D look.

Rigging Bead Eggs

To fish with bead eggs, rig up a nine-foot leader of 2X or 3X, or possibly stronger if you're getting broken off. A tapered leader works well. Tie on a 12-inch super-fluorocarbon tippet with a blood knot. Put the bead on the tippet below the blood knot. Tie on a size 6-10 Octopus hook from Gamagatsu (probably NOT available at your fly shop) or a Tiemco 105 hook. Trout can be fussy about the hook color, so carry these hooks in red, green, black, and brown.

Now peg the bead to the tippet with a toothpick about 2 inches from the hook (that's right: the bead is not on the hook). And this is very important: use a FLAT toothpick, not a round one. Toothpicks from Diamond are good because they are tapered. Slide the toothpick into the bead with the high side up; that traps the leader best. If you suspect the trout are acting hook-shy, slide the bead up a little farther from the hook.

Then break off the toothpick on each end of the bead. You don't want any of the toothpick to stick out of either side of the bead.

Jad Donaldson suggests using two beads, if the regulations permit. A large cream coral or pearl peach bead can serve as an attractor. Peg it to the tippet three to five inches above the "real" bead.

Some fly-fishing-only waters do not allow a bare hook, so check the regs before you rig.

Fishing Bead Eggs

The basic tactic is a tttdeep nymph presentation with an indicator. Most anglers prefer a yarn indicator. White is the best color because it looks like foam as it floats down the river.

You'll probably need to put some split shot on the leader to get your bead to the right depth. Attach the shot to the leader just above the blood knot so it won't slide down next to the bead.

When you have a grab, move your rod to the side or downstream. This sets the hook in the corner of the trout's jaw. Most trout will take the bead on a dead drift, but char may take it on a swing at the end of the drift.

Strikes can be savage, with trout moving five to ten feet to grab a bead of the right color and size. So after each fish, make sure your bead is back into the right position.

It's best to keep your beads, hooks, and flat toothpicks in a compartmented box with individual lids for each compartment. Separate the beads by size and color. You might want to have two boxes: one for use on the stream and one back in camp with your master supply.

Scott Richmond is Westfly's creator and Executive Director. He is the author of eight books on Oregon fly fishing, including Fishing Oregon's Deschutes River (second edition).

Uploaded 08/23/2006.

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Jacob Lund at CountrySport conducts a class in bead painting prior to a wilderness float on an Alaskan river

Painting a plastic bead with fingernail polish

Recently painted beads dry on their toothpick. Use a round toothpick for painting, but attach the bead to the tippet with a flat, tapered toothpick

A bead attached to the tippet above the hook