Broken tungsten beads

[Tom Butler]

On both of the bird of prey flies I tied with the waspi copper color beads on the mustad c49s the beads broke. It wasn't on a back cast, I think it came off bouncing bottom. I recall only braking one gold bead on the fulling mills hooks on my hares ears. In the video the tyer used a round hole bead.
Has anyone else noticed the slotted beads failing in some applications?

It did catch a fish even without the bead, that's when I noticed.

 

[Buzzy]

You are sure that you didn't tick a rock on a backcast? How about a rock in the stream that's not completely submerged, striking it on the delivery? It seems to me that breaking a bead by bouncing the fly on the bottom would be, uh, diplomatically, nearly impossible - but Tom, that's just my opinion and I truly don't know. In any case, I've never had a slotted tungsten bead break. I much more likely to bend a hook point on a snag or just break the fly off (wishing it was a fish).

 

[Tom Butler]

You are sure that you didn't tick a rock on a backcast? How about a rock in the stream that's not completely submerged, striking it on the delivery? It seems to me that breaking a bead by bouncing the fly on the bottom would be, uh, diplomatically, nearly impossible - but Tom, that's just my opinion and I truly don't know. In any case, I've never had a slotted tungsten bead break. I much more likely to bend a hook point on a snag or just break the fly off (wishing it was a fish).

I think it was somewhere out front. Either ticking rocks, hangups or maybe pinched between rocks, thinking missed strike on a rock, not sure. I do tend to get distance in the shallows before my real cast, that could be it, hitting something shallow. I've been practicing the paintbrush snap with my wrist. I didn't notice a dropped backcast, but I'll be paying more attention next time.

 

[Oliver1329]

You are sure that you didn't tick a rock on a backcast?

That's the only way that this has happened to me in the past. It doesn't happen often but if you catch the tungsten just right on the rock it doesn't take much to break it. Sometimes I don't even notice that I could have ticked a rock on my backcast so maybe Tom that's why you don't know how it happened. I only found out that's how it happens because when I did notice I ticked a rock on my backcast and I didn't have a bead anymore.

 

[FinLuver]

On both of the bird of prey flies I tied with the waspi copper color beads on the mustad c49s the beads broke. It wasn't on a back cast, I think it came off bouncing bottom. I recall only braking one gold bead on the fulling mills hooks on my hares ears. In the video the tyer used a round hole bead.
Has anyone else noticed the slotted beads failing in some applications?
View attachment 37695
It did catch a fish even without the bead, that's when I noticed.
View attachment 37696

Now ya know the “secret”…
No Beads.

BTW…that looks caddisy out of the rocky shuck as all get out!!!