Fairly new to tying, and just in the process of tying a load of stuff for the year ahead. Mostly Pheasant tails and GRHE.

I'm using hooks size 12 - 18 and have tungsten beads in 2mm 2.4mm 2.8mm & 3.2mm. It makes sense to me just to match these up:

size 12 with 3.2mm
size 14 with 2.8mm
size 16 with 2.4mm
size 18 with 2mm

This may be a stupid question but I was just wondering if thats what most people do or do you tie small hooks with big beads or Vice-versa.

Nick

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What drives me nuts is the bend of some hooks just don't allow for a bead, save for something way over sized for the hook. Is there a 'preferred' hook bend for making beaded flies?

Fred

Nick,
If you try to put a big bead on a small hook , it won't catch on the eye but slip straight off over the eye.If you try to put a small bead on a big hook , you will not get it round the bend.If you want to weight a small hook , there are patterns that use two or more beads , often mounted midships to avoid the fly hanging too eye down
Fred,
I find round bends are best and not off set but those are the type I like anyway!
Regards
Rob

Thanks Rob, I've also found 'round bends' to be the only one that work. The 'no offset' bit was a new one to me.

Fred

No hard and fast rule for bead sizes. I use the, 'if it looks right it is right' model when selecting beads. I see no need for a wide range in sizes. 2mm and 3.8mm tungsten catch me a lot of fish!! Robh is right in that the bead must not slip over the eye.

I use a lot of beadheads and it is certainly true that there is a limit to what sizes acan be used as some will not fit the hook and others slip off. Having said that there is still a good range that will fit for any give hook size. Within this range there is no obvious answer to what is right. It depends on the pattern you are tying and the position of the bead. However, it is certainly the case that the size of bead used has a big impact on the profile of the pattern. As a guide for something like a size 12 PT beadhead a 2.8mm bead would be about right in general.

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Here's a post from another forum on the same issue: http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.p...=&#entry151383

Bead Size Hook Size
1/16"....1.5mm ....20-26

5/64th" ...2.0 mm 16-20

3/32" .....2.3mm 14-18

7/64" .... 2.8mm 12-16

1/8" .....3.3mm 10-14

3/16" ...3.8mm 6-10

3/16" ....4.8mm 2-8

1/4" .....6.4mm 1/0-4

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KB
http://singlebarbed.com