Bead Fishing 101 - Beginners Guide To Fishing With Beads

Bead fishing has been growing in popularity here in the Pacific Northwest and for obvious reasons.... It works! For one, it is an easy rig to set up, but secondly, with a bit of practice this technique can be very effective when targeting Steelhead and Coho, amongst a mix of other species.

With your rod assembled,  we will first be working with your main line. Regardless of the style of bobber stop you are using, this will be the first thing that we slide onto our line. Sliding it far enough up your line to be out of your way. (you can clip your bobber stop tags but be sure to leave enough to be able to retighten and readjust your knot when and if needed) Your bobber stop is used to adjust the depth that you are fishing. The further you slide your stop up your line, the deeper your rig will be in the water.

After installing our bobber stop we now need to slide on one of our tiny beads (This will prevent the bobber from sliding over the bobber stop). We can now put on our bobber. Thread your line down through the top of your bobber (reference pic above if needed). Lastly, we will slide on our other tiny bead (this is to prevent the bobber from causing any damage to the knot we are about to tie onto our 3-way swivel in the next step.

This is an easy step but also an important one considering this knot will be tied to the rest of the fishing rig. If you are using braided line, use a knot you know and trust with braid. I typically prefer to use a Uni knot here. On the 3-way swivel there are two eyelets and a clip hanging off the 3rd. The clip/clasp is where we will be attaching a weight for the rig. Tie you mainline to one of the eyelets.

The length of leader you choose to float is up to you and/or what is allowed in your area. Make sure to check the regulations for the area you are fishing.  An 18"-24" leader has proven to be pretty effective for me in many conditions.  The size of line you choose can also be dependent on conditions & the size of steelhead in your area, but it's always good to have a variety and you will find what your preference is with experience. I always have a range from 8lb up to 20lb and usually fluorocarbon. Monon still catches fish, so try some things out and see what works best for you.

Now we are getting down to the business end of this rig. Depending on whether you are going to be using a hard bead or a soft bead, pegging is going to be different. We will be using a plastic bead. If you are using a soft bead, you should refer to the back of the package which should have instructions on how to peg your bead, there will most likely be a pegging system for that specific type of bead.

Thread your line through one end of the leader and run the bead up your line out of the way for now so we can tie on the hook, then we will get to pegging this bead.

With our bead out of the way, lets get to tying on the hook. This, as for all knots that are tied, need to be strong and secure. This hook is going to be holding your fish, it's a really bad time for a knot slip or break..

 (if you pre-tie your leaders you can also use a bait loop with your hook and add yarn, etc.)

A good clinch knot will usually do the job.

With our hook tied on we can now peg our bead. There are a wide variety of options and hacks when it comes to pegging your bead, but I think the best option is a simple one. Considering they are cheap, effective, and MADE for pegging beads, look for wedgies (as shown below) or any other brand/manufacturer. This style is easy to use, and a good starting point for figuring out how you want to approach this technique as you become more experienced. This style comes tapered (wider on one end than on the other) If you're bead fishing, an extra pack of these is always good to have

The standard that most of us here in the Pacific Northwest use is roughly 3 fingers distance between your bead and the hook. By doing this, we are creating a standoff distance between the bead and hook, because when a fish takes your bead they do so by inhaling, which creates a vacuum effect. It would be easy for a fish to suck a bead down near it's gills which makes for a bad place to set a hook. By having this gap, it makes it much easier for the hook to pull directly into the corner of the fishes mouth, giving a good, clean hook set, which is critical when bead fishing

With the wedgies, take the skinny end and run it up through the bottom hole of your bead. (we are going through the bottom so that the fatter end of the wedgie is at the bottom of your bead, better holding your bead in place when it meets the resistance of the river as you are retrieving your rig.) Pull the wedgie until it gets tight enough to hold your bead in place. Don't worry if your bead moves a bit while doing this. You will be able to position this bead whenever you need.

Once you bead is snug in place, you can cut off the ends sticking out of the bead. Be careful to not cut your line when doing so. You will want to cut these down as close as you can to help create a more natural look.

As mentioned above, there are a variety of weights that can be used. Shown in the pic above is a Dragonballs by P-Line weight. Slinky weights and Hollow core lead are two other options used a lot by local anglers. You want your weight heavy enough to get your gear down to the bottom but you don't want it to exceed the capacity of your bobber. Depending on the depth and speed of the water that you are fishing, you may need a variety of sizes so you can experiment until you find the right size for the area.

This is the final step!! You are now ready to go fish this rig.

My typical process for fishing this rig is choosing the weight that I think is going to work best for the given conditions and adjusting accordingly. 

Start out by making a short cast at roughly a 45 degree angle upriver and let it float to a 45 degree angle downriver. (if you are unfamiliar with angles, then think of you facing the river as the same as facing a clock. You want to cast up river at roughly the 10 or 2 o'clock, depending on which way the river is flowing, and retrieve your gear at that opposite number. Your 2nd cast should be a bit further out into the river and your 3rd cast further. By doing this you are covering all sections of water in front of you. The fish aren't always necessarily on the opposite side of the river, they could be right at your feet. With that being said, never step into the water without making a cast into the area first. You never know where you may find a fish holding up. After a few casts, take a few steps up or downriver depending on which direction is most fishable. Repeat the close, near, and far casts as you make your way up or down river, making sure to not leave any water uncovered.

Bobber Tips:

To help find the depth of water you are fishing so you can better fish your gear low in the water, adjust your bobber stop a bit long and make a cast. If you are bumping along the bottom and basically starting to snag up, reel in quickly and adjust your bobber stop a bit shorter. Repeat this until you just get a slight bump along the bottom every few seconds.

When your bobber goes down, set the hook! There is a saying "when in doubt, set the hook" Some fish will hit your bait hard and it will be an obvious takedown while other times it may be a soft bite. Watching your bobber and seeing what its doing is crucial to being successful with this technique.

We will be posting a tutorial video here soon with more tips and techniques as we begin to move on to the more advanced techniques, like how to fish this rig as a double bead setup.