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Landon P

Slotted beads

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I use them on standard hooks.  I find them a bit annoying because the slot likes to roll to the top of the shank.  I just make a couple of wraps of thread to lock them in place with a bit of space between it and the hook eye.   When I'm finished the body of the fly, I just bring the thread over the bead, make a couple of wraps and finish.  

 

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I'm a firm believer in using the right tool for the job but of course you can. For me in my Po-dunk town slotted beads are harder to get than the others. I got a lot of those. It's to the internet for me for the slotted ones.

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7 hours ago, Philly said:

  I find them a bit annoying because the slot likes to roll to the top of the shank.  I just make a couple of wraps of thread to lock them in place with a bit of space between it and the hook eye.   When I'm finished the body of the fly, I just bring the thread over the bead, make a couple of wraps and finish. 

I do the same sometimes, depending on the fly and bead size I may tie in a short piece of non-lead wire underneath to stabilize the bead.  Fits nicely into the slot and keeps the bead locked down.  

Thought I was the only one annoyed by wandering beads.😊

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Some time back I used my cocaine scale to weigh a bunch of different beads just to see if there was really a difference in tungsten. There definitely is. Tungsten nearly doubles the weight of the brass bead, though I still use them for a lot of things. What I didn't check at that time because I didn't have any at the time is if the slotted beads in same size as drilled beads really weigh more like they claim in the mags. To me I don't see why cutting a slot in a round bead wouldn't make it weigh less than a straight through tapered hole. I'll get some different beads and give them a run again on the scale just to see what I find in brass, tungsten, and slotted.  Anyone have any good information on that weight question?

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Try building a bump of thread near the eye.  Build this bump up until the bead grabs it and kind of stays put.  Then whip finish and cut the thread.  Use an adhesive (on the thread bump) of your choice then push the bead on to the bump.  Then start your jam knot right behind the bead.  You can do this with regular or slotted beads and not have to wrap over the outside of the bead.  I have to agree with flytier, review your choice of supplier... 

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I am bead shopping and remembered this thread.  Here is something I came across that addresses vicrider’s , as explained by Tim Drummond;

When looking at the difference in beads specifically, slotted versus drilled, there is one major factor, the weight.  If you look at a slotted tungsten bead versus a standard drilled tungsten bead you will notice the difference in the way the bead is manufactured so they can be mounted on standard hooks and jig hooks.  On the slotted bead, the manufacturing process allows for more tungsten in the bead simply because the bead does not need to be machined as much for mounting on a jig hook.  On a drilled bead there is actually more tungsten removed during manufacturing to allow for mounting to traditional hooks.  So the result on 2 beads the same size, one being slotted, the other being standard, is more weight in the slotted bead due to more tungsten in the bead.

I am not a machinist, so unsure of the validity, but it is one opinion anyway.

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