Where Can I get plastic bead chain

[hexfli 0]

I have some but I do not remember what shop I got it at, its awesome for eyes on GL steelhead flies and does not add any additonal weight to the fly. Any leads would be most appreciated. Regardless of color, I can dye them black if needed.

 

thanks

[Guest]

craft store is where I think I remember buying mine.

[Flyweaver 0]

Last time I went to the craft store they stopped carrying plastic and metal bead chain.I have not found a new source but perhaps an old fashion hardware store,or Lowes,or Home Depot. Let us know if you find a source. I use it for eyes on woven damsel fly nymphs.

[jkr 0]

I found black plastic necklace looking thing in Walmart craft dept.

[hexfli 0]

Found them...but the are pearl white...how can they be dyed black?

[lthrnk 0]

I doubt if you can dye them but there is a new spray paint on the market for refinishing plastic chairs etc. would probably work OK.

[hexfli 0]

Figured out how to dye them suckers. I broke open 2 black sharpie markers and put the inserts in a ziploc bag with the plastic beadchain. Zipped it up and squeezed the ink out of the inserts. 10 minutes later I had 10 feet of little plastic eyes for steelhead nymphs for about 4 bucks!

[bentflyrod 0]

Michaels crafts and Joanne fabric both have the plastis bead. Joannes had it in white, silver, and black. Sizes??

 

BFR

[finZilla 0]

For what it's worth I make my plastic eyes out of good old melted mono. If I want black I burn `em, otherwise you can use a permanent marker to dress them up. The one thing I like about mono eyes is the opaque look.

 

Here's an example...

 

[hexfli 0]

I've tried that before. But for me it just takes too much time, along with the risk of burning the hackles of the fly. This plastic bead chain is the best I have found, adds little weight to the fly, and really sets it off from a fly that does not have the eyes. Oh yeah and it REALLY cheap!

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi,

 

I'm with finZilla, I like to melt my plastic/mono eyes. I make mine out of strands of black poly/mono?? stuff that I cut out of large truck/motor home mud guards.

 

Tight Lines - Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com

[appalachian angler (tn.) 0]

Hex, I think you missed the point about burning the mono. I have not seen anyone attempt to burn it on the fly. It is easy to prefab a bunch of them for later use. Take about an inch long piece of 50# mono, and center it in a pair of hemostats and use a butane lighter. Burn both ends til they ball up to, or right against the sides of the hemo's. Now you have a little barbell set of mono eyes! It takes alittle practice, and you can vary the lengths and diameters of the mono to get different results/size barbells. Some color the mono with sharpies before the burn to get dark eyes. You can get clear mono to about an opaque amber color by burning alone. Good luck,

 

A.A.

[hexfli 0]

I guess I was overthinking the melted mono thing. That does make sense.

[Rob Knisely 0]

In addition to your own dying technique, just color the pearl beads with the marker... don't have to be precise.

 

Then place a drop of superglue on top of the bead and "run" it around the bead with a needle to cover it. The marker will mix with the superglue and produce more of tint (darker or lighter depending on how thickly you colored the bead beforehand). With pearl, you can get some very nice effects using different colors of permanent marker. You can also blend colors uniformly over the bead eye with this method.

 

Oh... best to do this right after tying in the eyes and before dubbing, etc.