Question:
All the commercially tied bead head nymphs I see are tied with the bead up
against the eye of the hook. This certainly provides the strongest jigging
action to the nymph. However, although it takes more work, I prefer to tie the
bead a bit back, as though it were part of the swollen thorax. This also
causes the leg material to flare out in a style like a soft hackle wet fly.
This makes a difference in the appearance of the fly, in or out of the water.
Seems to me to be more lifelike. Does anyone else fish something like these
and does it make any difference to the fish?
Answer:
-I tie BH mayfly and stonefly nymphs with the bead a little back from the head
and the wing case over it. The "legs" are tied in front of the bead. I can't
speak directly for the fish, but I have had good success with this tie. A
Hendrickson version has worked very well on the Farmigton River in April and
May of the past several seasons, and Ithe largest Brookies and Salmon I caught
on the Connecticut River this year were all caught on a dark Hare's Ear Nymph
tied in this style.
-There is of course another practical reason for moving the bead back a
bit from the eye of the hook. Hooks often come out of the manufacturing
process with the eye imperfectly closed and the end of the wire can be
very sharp. Traditional ties help in preventing thin tippet material
from slipping off the eye or being severed by the sharp wire by covering
the base of the eye with tying thread in the process of making the
head. Putting a bead right up against the eye may or may not serve the
same purpose. Obviously this is not quite what you were referring to in
terms of positioning the bead, but it IS something worth keeping in
mind.
