Matching Bead Heads and Ribbing

[Matt Frey]

Hey Guys
I was tying some nymphs last night and I had what seemed to be a problem. I was tying Bird's Nests with a gold bead and gold wire ribbing. Then I ran out of of gold beadhead. I ALWAYS have been matching the color of the beadhead to the color of the ribbing I used. But then I got to thinking ... the ribbing and bead head are doing different things on the fly and they probably dont need to be the same color. OR even that they should be different colors.

I was wondering what you guys do. Interested in seeing the your responses here.

Matt

[Darian]

Hi Matt,.... I always try to match materials, wire, beads, etc., when I'm tying for a bunch of other fly fisherman. 8) I don't do that for myself and haven't noticed whther the fish care or not. :? :?

You question might be answered by lookin at what other tyers do with their patterns. For example, the Copper John and all it's variations. Almost all that I've seen have used a gold bead but the wire is of many different colors. There're many other examples as well. 8) 8) 8)

[Matt Frey]

Thanks Darian.

However, I think Copper John's are a bit different than I what I was thinking about or maybe they are not and they completely illustrate the point ,... I was more referring to using gold, nickel, copper wire and gold, nickel, copper beadheads.

Copper John's are cool flies. I made up some Isonychia-esque Copper John-ish flies recently .... both red and brown wire .. gold bead ... I used a rusty brown dubbing instead of peacock an used turkey for the wing case .. a little pearl tinsel on top of that ... in my opinion they looked very cool ... and most importantly they caught fish!

I noticed that Gordon's Steelhead Fly had copper ribbing and a gold bead. Maybe he will offer us some input.

[Darian]

Matt,... You're being too literal. If you use ribbing on a beadhead Birdsnest, the ribbing can be used to provide segmentation for the abdomen or to hold the materials down and keep the it from fraying. If the latter, the ribbing may not show through.

So, it really doesn't matter whether the materials match or not. Another example might be when adding a tinsel rib to, say, a steelhead fly without a bead. The rib may be silver, gold or any other color and may nt match the color of the head (e.g. Silver Hilton)

Here's a question for you. If using a black beadhead on a particular pattern, would you use a black wire rib :?: :?: The choice of the color of the rib might hinge on what you're trying to accomplish with the fly in the water (....flash, etc.) 8) 8) 8)

Long ago I used to tie/fish a variation of the Burlap on Putah Creek. It was size 12, had black bead chain eyes (comet style), Badger hackle, burlap body with a gold rib and a grey squirrel tail. This fly was very effective. :) :)

[Matt Frey]

Darian
I am totally following you. I agree that the ribbing is to emulate segmentation, while the bead head can be many things and therefore it may make sense to have it a variety of colors. I can imagine certain nymph patterns where the beadhead could represent an air bubble .. in which case I imagine silver would be good regardless of the color of the rib. I usually choose the color of the wire and bead head based on the color of the dubbing. ... But I think that is about to change. Maybe just the ribbing should be based on the color of the dubbing and have the color of the beadhead based on other factors. To answer your question ... I have only used a black beadhead a couple of times and each time was on a stonefly pattern where I used black rib :lol: :lol: But I completely understand the point you are getting at. Maybe its an issue of what the purpose of the beadhead is ....

[Hairstacker]

I chose the "always match" option but only because I had certain patterns in mind where I like the ribbing and bead to match for appearance's sake.

I hear what Darian is saying and it makes a lot of sense. Nevertheless, I was thinking of the Pheasant Tail nymph, where I think the copper rib is best matched with a copper bead, and the Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear nymph, where I think the gold rib is best matched by a gold bead.

I can think of other patterns as well where I prefer to match the ribbing and bead for appearance's sake but I doubt they're any more or less effective because of it. But, for these, when I run out of the required color bead, I suspend tying them and go buy some more. :D

[Darian]

Mike,.... By matching the hatch,.... er.... materials you're saving the economy of this great State and I, for one, thank you very much.... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Hairstacker]

Darian, you're welcome. :lol:

[Matt Frey]

Hey Mike

Why do you think the pheasant tail w. copper bead and the hare's ear w. gold bead works, but then others it doesnt matter? Sounds like you've done some serious field testing.

Matt

[Hairstacker]

Matt, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I didn't mean to imply that matching "works" for these patterns. I merely like the appearance better on certain patterns. Since I've never "mis-matched" these patterns, I don't know if matching works better or not but I suspect it makes no difference. :lol:

[Matt Frey]

Thanks for the clarification Mike. I am begining to think that all of this is more for the tyer than for the fish.

[Hairstacker]

I am begining to think that all of this is more for the tyer than for the fish.

:lol: I think that is often true. It reminds me of when I tied one of my most effective flies once for a fly tying contest and didn't fare as well as I thought I would. I concluded it was perhaps because I didn't add all the trimmings that would have given it more human eye appeal. I forgot I was tying for humans and not fish. :lol:

In any case, along with appearance, we're all trying to figure out ways to make our flies more effective, so I appreciate you raising the question. This is the kind of discussion that can help us all pick up tips. 8)

Of course, for me, performance has to trump appearance when I'm convinced it makes a difference. Often, there's no reason we can't have both. Take David Lee -- he ties some darned pretty flies but he never, to my knowledge, places appearance over performance. He gets them both right. In fact, if you show him a "new" pretty fly, invariably one of his first questions will be, "How does it fish?" or "Have you tested it in the water?" He never loses sight of the goal. :lol: