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Gregg

Tungsten Beads

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For the longest time, I have hesitated switching to Tungsten beads because of the cost, and I just couldn't imagine that it would make much of a difference especially on small flies. I finally decided to get past my pride, and to put tungsten beads to the test.

 

For the test I used 5/64" brass beads and compared them to 5/64" Tungsten beads. I used a small bead for the test since I figured it would be more likely then a large bead to not make a difference. I set up a 2 foot glass cylinder full of water and both beads were dropped at the same time into the cylinder. I repeated the test 10 times. I then tied identical size #20 pheasant tail nymphs, using the same number of wraps of thread and material. I then dropped both nymphs at the same time and ran that test 10 times.

 

You should know that when I was preparing for the test, I fully expected it to make absolutely no difference. With such small beads on such small flies, I really that the difference would be negligable.

 

Well the results were shocking. The tungsten beads and flies fell through the water column more then twice as fast as the brass beads. The results were the same in all 20 tests.

 

I am sure tests like these have been done elsewhere, but I hadn't seen it discussed before and I thought I would share. Ultimately if I want to really sink a fly, tungsten beads more then live up to their hype. I will be making the switch over to tungsten and for my most used flies, I will probably start tying both a set of tungsten bead and regular bead flies for different flies.

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hey, that physics crap really works!

 

it's a neat way of testing it. you should repeat it with a larger, less aquadynamic shaped pattern, like for instance a #12 woolly worm. I sort of did a test like that, with a 1/8" brass and tungsten bead WW at a local puddle, but the best measurement I could make was "yup, the expensive one sinks better..."

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You don´t need to test it, you just need to compare specific weights;

 

http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_metals.htm

 

tungsten 19600 kg/m³

 

brass - casting 8400 - 8700 kg/m³

 

Tungsten is at least twice as heavy as brass for the same volume, which is why it sinks at roughly twice the rate in water when the objects are the same shape.

 

If you put both flies on tippet, you will get different results, as tippet drag slows the flies down considerably. The finer the tippet, the faster it sinks.

 

 

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