Quest Outdoors

Bigfisherman · Fry Joined: 23 Dec 2004 Posts: 20 Location: NW MI

Of course they work but like every tool only in the right .. they work well when fish are in situations where they are primarily sight feeders. In Ak they work great and some places down here they work too. My experience leads me to the the conclusion they work extremely well in very clear yet faster current. slower current they don't seem to work as well unless it is fairly deep. Cold water also tends to reduce there effectiveness so they haven't worked very well for me in the winter they are more of a late spring tool for me. I used them a fair amount for a while because it was nice to not have to sac up singles everynight but lately I havn't used them much.

Funny thing I found was that the fish in AK seemed to be pickier about the right size and color of the bead than the fish down here. go figure but up there once the right combo was discovered watch out baby.....

BowSpec · Smolt Joined: 05 Jan 2005 Posts: 42

BuzzFloatman · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:01 pm Post subject:

Check out the March issue of Great Lakes Angler. Some hack wrote about the beads Wink

They've worked in every watershed I'm thrown them in from Lake O, Lake Erie and Lake Mich.....

Like BigFish said, they have a time and place. Soon will be the time and the places will be many...

BK

Treven · Lunker Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 376

That author is a MAJOR hack!!!! Laughing

So is the person holding the fish in one of the pictures too though...

mad · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:18 pm Post subject: Use of beads on float rod

This is my first post on this forum and I am so new to center pin fishing I am waiting for the lakes and rivers to thaw out to go fishing. I have lots of questions to ask and am surprised I am writing on a topic so soon. I was lookin thru pages and pages of posts trying to get info, as the use of center pin reels in Alaska is almost zero. Anyway the use of beads is very familiar to me as I am a fly fishing guide in Alaska. Once Salmon start dropping eggs the use of eggs become our version of match the hatch. Trying to match the color of the egg, i.e., different salmon have different colors and sizes, are they fertilized or dead, how long have they been in the water, unfertilized eggs begin to fade in just hours. With millions of eggs in the water they know what is real and what is fake. Fishing with anything else is almost a waste of time. The reason the bead is begged 2" above the hook is for only one reason and that is to keep from foul hooking them. They do not inhale them, so when they sip them in, and you have as micro second to set the hook before they spit them out (even less if you don't trim your toothpick), so when they spit them out the hook would come around and normally catch them in or around the eye, so to elevate the problem you are no longer allowed to beg more than 2" above the hook. The one plus to the use of beads is they do not inhale and are normally hook at the peak of the mouth.

Since I will have tons of questions coming shortly I will let you in on a secrete on using beads. First use soft ones and do not waste your time having them on a hook, the key is to rig them like you would a normal hard plastic bead. The way to make them is simple, tie off one end of thin wire to a fixed object the other end to your vise and have the line level. With your mini glue gun put it on the wire and then turn your vise for about 10 seconds to get it round, of course match the size to the Salmon egg and color your are targeting. The extra time you get because it is soft makes a huge difference. If your using hard plastic beads you paint them to make them look more real.

I look forward to having lots of questions answered about center pining and actually going out and trying it, as the key to egg fishing is the perfect drift.

DRIFTER_016 · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:23 am Post subject: Re: Use of beads on float rod

sbeausol · Egg Joined: 03 Jan 2008 Posts: 3

here is a question, when running these on the pin, are you making a vertical presentation (ie floating the offering just off the bottom) or bottom bouncing? I assume these eggs are best presented bottom bouncing, but i'm not sure how easy that presentation is with the pin?

thoughts?

DRIFTER_016 · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:38 pm Post subject:

run them the same as you would a fly or roe.

Downtown · Eyed Egg Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 5

Mad,
Where do you get soft beads??? I've seen lots of info on hard trout beads but yours on soft is a first for me. Welcome to pinning. I'm also new . Been at it since January and the hook is in deep.

tod · Alevin Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 19 Location: keuka lake

Downtown
If I am reading his post correctly he is making soft eggs from dried up glue and his glue gun.
I have seen many egg imitations made with colored glue sticks and a glue gun but I have never seen one rigged like a bead. By that I mean threaded onto the leader and the hook attached seperately
I think his idea is brilliant and have ordered glue sticks in pink and peach and I am going to use them in place of hard beads for a while to see if a great technique can get even better

chromedome · Lunker Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 390

carpy · Egg Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 4

Seems as though running your hook through a jensen egg and then running the egg up your line would get some results and be a nice soft egg the fish would hang onto a little longer than a hard bead. Just a thought.