Lamp Glass Bead Flies

Pattern by Ronn Lucas Sr.

I have been using common glass beads on flies for a great many years and beads on flies in general is not a new practice. What is a recent application of beaded flies is the use of hand made lampglass beads, precious and semi-precious metal beads, Semi-precious stone beads and beads of other materials. Lampglass is descriptive of the way the hand made glass beads are produced. The craftsman sits at a bench which has in front of him/her an open flame torch. The bead maker uses a wire mandrel on which he/she builds layers of glass as it is passed through the flame.

The above beads made by Aimee Milan

The above beads made by Mona Golan

Several years ago, I had made the jump from tying fishing flies, trout, salmon and steelhead flies of the general types to tying fully dressed and what I call, free style flies. Bringing my practice of using beads on flies with me on this new journey was to be expected. I have also collected/gathered many rare and wonderful feathers over the years most of which begged to be used as full feather wings. I’ve dabbled a bit with the traditional married wing flies but my real passion and interest is free style tying.

Many of my feathers are large and demand large hooks with 9/0 being common. My bead collection for fishing flies were tiny, with some antique, turn of the last century beads being almost microscopic! None of these beads would be of much use on my new flies so the bead collection began all over again. Yes, something new to spend money on. There isn’t a local bead store that I haven’t been and the same goes for any I might see when on the road.

I have learned a lot about beads during the past few years and continue to now. Some beads will work for flies and others will not. Some need to be modified and others not. Some can be used with difficulty and others not. I will try to lay out some of these to help you avoid frustration and possibly save money since I have already bought stuff that isn’t of much use in tying.

Beads can be found in craft stores, bead shops, through the mail and, on line. You really need to know what you require size wise before buying beads particularly if you do it without seeing the beads in person. Hole size is the single biggest potential problem area. The other potential problem area is bead diameter/height on the hook shank. These two areas can make your work of using beads on flies a joy or nightmare. Believe me when I say, I have burned countless hours with fruitless attempts at using some beads.

These two beads show the potential problems with beads with large diameters. The one on the left is easy to work onto a fly while the large bead on the right is so high that it begins to deform the wing. Also, on the right one, I filled the area in front of the bead to avoid a void that would be created by the wing.

Much of what I will tell you here is based on my preferences and some is just the mechanics of using beads. You will need to develop your own preferences which may be different from mine. I usually prefer my wings to touch or almost touch the body/beads. Right off you can envision some of the potential challenges for using beads. If the bead is more than a couple millimeters higher than the hook shank, you may have trouble getting the wing to sit low and/or touch the body. This really necessitates that the bead/s be used at the rear of the fly so that the wing can sit low and either curve up at the bead or barely touch it. If the bead is high and the body low, some creative strategies need to be developed to fill the gape at the transition area/s. Using herl or Ostrich is one way to “fill” this area or, better stated, camouflage it. The barbules of the herl will mask the space and can actually even stabilize the wing.

Round beads can be problematic if their diameter is too large and using only one bead also can present a challenge. The so called “bi-cone” beads which are long (tube) beads that are fatter in the middle than on the ends have also been somewhat challenging for me to use because of the hump in the middle of the bead. Where to have the wing touch? On the end, in the middle or trim the wing around the bead. The latter option is quite difficult to carry off well.

The bottom line is that almost any shape bead can be used as long as it is small enough in diameter if an odd shape. Personally, I favor tube beads for lampglass. Beads that taper (widen) toward the rear are nice as are beads with irregular shapes that remain fairly tubular in overall form.

These are odd shaped beads which might be difficult to use on a fly.

There are also metal beads such as the typical beads that are used on regular bead head flies and beads made for jewelry out of a variety of metals. You will also find beads made of bone, wood, plastic, ceramics and others.

99.9% of the time I use beads on a fly; it is on a blind eye hook for obvious reasons. You may find some beads with holes large enough to slip over a barb on an eyed hook but this will likely be rare if you are using large hooks. On ready made beads, the holes may be too small to fit over the wire and this will be very problematic for the typical Tyer to deal with. I have the luxury of having dental grinders and diamond burs at my disposal since I am a Dental Technician and have these things in my lab. Not everyone will of course so, alternatives need to be found. If one is using metal beads, plastic, wood, bone or other soft material, they can easily be drilled out with small drill bits. Glass is another story. The only way to enlarge the holes in glass beads is to use diamond burs turning very slow and with water as a coolant. Heat will literally burn up diamonds and they aren’t cheap. So unless you have the right tools to grind glass beads, you need to get them with large enough holes to begin with.

The good news is that a few of the lampglass bead makers will downsize their beads for use on flies. Most of them however, will not be inclined to do this. I have a list of a few fantastic bead makers who understand what we need for our flies and I am more than willing to give you some names so you can get right to work tying beaded flies. One thing though. These lampglass beads will cost a minimum of $5 to over $50 each! They are not your average craft store beads though!

Insert a few “special” beads here or a fly or two.

Illustration 1 Bead A. original hole. B. shallow tapered modification. C. deep tapered modification.

Illustration 2 A. Bead B. oval tapered modification. C. original hole

The holes in the beads almost always need modification for my type of tying. These two pictures show modifications that I make to the holes of a great many of my beads, large and small. The top image shows the side view of a bead. Notice the original hole (A.). This hole may be just large enough to slip snugly over the hook or loosely which will allow some tie off areas to be hidden when the bead is slid over them. Generally, I will taper the hole deeply like C. in illustration 1 and oval like B. in Illustration 2 since I most often put the bead in the place of the more typical Ostrich butt at the tail. This gives me room to play loose and fast with turns of thread when tying in/off the many parts of my typical tags on free style flies. The oval hole will allow the tail/veil and lower tag veil to appear to come right out of the bead itself. I show an actual bead before and after modification in the lesson below. If you are buying either craft beads or one of a kind lampglass beads, a 2mm hole will allow you to slide the bead over most material tie off areas. A hole that is only slightly larger than the hook wire diameter will either need to be modified or have no materials under it. You will be at the mercy of the craft store beads but many lampglass bead makers will be able to make the hole about any diameter you need although not many will be able to taper a hole as I outlined above.

How many beads to use? If I am using the regular craft store beads, one to five in uneven numbers usually. This is not a hard and fast rule but I think uneven numbers look more balanced than two or four. One bead is the norm for most lampglass and other beads. Round metal beads would be as the craft beads.

Where to put the bead? As I said earlier, the rearmost position will be easiest for most beads because they will be far enough away from the wing to present less challenges than if closer to the front of the fly. Another reason I put most beads rearward and use extravagant tags is that typically, the front has the usually showy wing and body so why not put some “sizzle” to the rear!

Ok, you’re ready to tie a fly with a bead/s on it. Planning ahead is my most important watchword for tying any fly but particularly the free style flies. Know ahead of time what you want to do and how to achieve it. Where to tie in and off a material can be very important. How a material can be used for an effect is also important. I am always thinking of how to use unusual materials in “usual” ways or common materials in unusual ways.

A word on how I tie a fly. I never know what a finished fly will look like until the head is cemented. My free style flies evolve as I tie them. I’ve tried laying out all the materials ahead of time or drawing them but these methods never quite worked for me. I will select either the wing feathers OR the bead (if it is to be a large “special” bead) first and then the hook shape/size. Everything flows from that. Color combinations are decided by the colors in the wing or bead and everything will be complementary to them.

Back to tying your beaded fly. I do not put the gut on the hook until AFTER the bead is cemented in place. This can be very important should the bead need to be modified or a different one chosen. Apply the tag, tail and veilings (after you’ve determined and planned for the amount of bulk that the bead can hide should you choose that method). Slide the bead over the tie off area to see how it fits and whether it is centered on the wire. If the hole is large and the bead has a loose fit, you need to build up under the bead with thread so it will be centered and firmly in place. For a tube bead, I build up a kind of “dog bone” looking thread arrangement which has a high spot on the rear and another on the front of the bead. This gives some slack in the middle if the bead is on a curved portion of the hook shank. The interior of hand made beads is very rough and sharp and it will cut/fray thread very easily! I want the thread to just fit the bead and not be too tight particularly at the rear. If it is tight there, when you push and twist the bead on, the tail and tag can be torqued out of position. I will put a little nail polish on the wraps at the rear but not too close to the tag so cement can’t wick into the tail or floss. Slide the bead into place and put a tiny bit of super glue in front of the bead on the wire and let it wick into the bead and thread. Spray a little super glue accelerator on that area to hasten the setting of the glue. DO NOT put a lot of glue there!!! I had the misfortune once of putting super glue on and it kept wicking into the bead so I kept adding more. I looked and it had wicked clear through the bead and into the tail and tag ruining the whole thing! All you need is to have enough glue to hold the bead in place and no more.

A word on lampglass beads. Since these are all one of a kind hand made beads, all are different and all sides are different. I look for the best side of a bead and have that to the front (viewer’s side of a framed fly) of the hook.

Let’s go through a typical free style beaded fly.

Step 1

I select the bead and then a wing that will complement the bead followed by a hook that will accommodate the bead and wing. My usual free style flies with hand made beads are typically fairly large due to the sizes of the beads and that my choice of full feathers for wings are usually large. This fly will be about 3” long.

Step 2

I like to temporarily place these elements on the hook to get a good idea of where the fly is headed. It is also a time to judge the length of the tail and wing.

Step 3 A

This is the bead before modification and one of the diamond points I use to grind out the end of the bead. This is important. When you have the bead on the hook, revolve it to see which side of the bead has the most interesting design and which you will want facing the viewer if or when the fly is framed. Keep this side in your mind as you modify the end of the bead. If you don’t, since the hole will be ovoid, the side may not face forward when you are done.

Step 3 B

This is the bead after modification.

Step 4

Apply the flat silver tinsel and the red oval tinsel.

Step 5

Tie in the ribs, rib floss, tag floss and apply the tag floss. If I were using any color other than black for the floss, I’d have advanced the thread, tied in and applied flat silver tinsel and then brought the floss forward. This brightens the floss.

Step 6

Apply the ribs in three sections as shown. I find that usually a three rib tag looks best. I want the rib to start below the shank and end above. This is the same for the body ribs.

Step 7

Apply the lower tag veil. I like uneven tips most of the time. The length can vary. Sometimes I like the veil longer than other times. It’s just a personal thing.

Step 8

Apply the sides to the veil. I do not strip the base of the feathers for the veils, wings or any other feather on the flies. I trim them close with scissors. This leaves a little stubble which aids in locking the feathers in place and retains the strength of the shafts.

I also flatten all feathers with smooth face pliers. You will likely also need to twist the flattened shaft to make it seat with the feather in the right place and attitude.

Step 9

Attach the tail. I like the tail to come off the top of the bend usually when the hook shape allows. On long bends, a compromise will have to be made. Generally, I like to have the tail look like a continuation of the shank.

Step 10

Apply the tail veil.

Step 11

We will usually need to build up the shank to some degree under the bead. I make a hump at the rear and one at the front and just behind where the end of the bead will be. Doing this will allow a long bead to be on a curved shank and it centers it. Try to have the rear hump a little forward of the tail and other material tie off area. When you put cement on the hump, it is less likely to “wick” back into the tail and tag. Head cement on the rear hump is sufficient and can also be used on the front but, I usually use super glue. JUST enough to do the job! On the first or second fly I did with a bead, I had spent considerable time applying the tag and put super glue on the front of the bead and before I knew it, the cement had wicked back through the bead and saturated the tag! It was a total loss but I managed to salvage the bead.

Step 12

The bead in place. The fly is really starting to take shape. At this point I will start to consider what I will use below the shank. Will I veil the front body section/s? How would the throat look with hair instead of feathers and so on?

Step 13

This shows the front of the bead. You can see that there is a bare area at the front. This will allow us to start the front of the body without any tie off areas from previous materials.

Step 14

Applying the gut eye. Lay down a tight bed of thread with close turns back to the area where the legs of the eyes will end. Twist the thread tight and advance it to the front of the hook. This will provide a little more retention for the gut. Either chew the ends of the gut to fray them so the tie off area will be smooth or wet and flatten with pliers. Trim each strand at different lengths for the same reason.

Step 15

Tie the gut to the sides of the hook and in line with the hook wire as shown. Make very tight close turns to the rear of the gut and make two or three half hitches. Cut the thread a little long and apply head cement to the thread wraps. When dry, trim the thread tag close. By tying the gut to the sides, we make a broad, almost flat bed on which to set the wings and throat.

Step 16

Attach the thread next to the bead and apply the Ostrich herl joint.

Step 17

Place the wing to again see how things are going.

This diagram shows the hook shank on end, looking to the rear. The three grey circles represent the tinsel ribs and the red & black show the floss placements.

Step 18 Tie in the rib materials as shown in the diagram. To tie in all these materials without adding any bulk by adding thread turns, slide each material around the shank between the wire and thread one full turn. The first material on will be the last to be applied. I will explain this in a future lesson. This view is the far side. By tying the ribs a little behind where we actually want them to be when the rib is finished, we can tug them into place when applying the rib. Better to do this than tie them in the actual place we want them and finding they come too far.

Step 19 Attach the body floss somewhere on the back side, usually above the rib tie in. Advance the thread in close turns while binding the tag ends of the rib materials and body floss along the back side of the fly. You can also have them tied down along the top & bottom if that is where they end up. Just try to make this area as smooth as possible.

Step 20 Tie in and apply the flat silver tinsel.

Step 21 Flatten the body floss and bring it forward in close turns. In order for the head to be small and not too long, I tend to crowd the eye with the materials. This is completely contrary to how I tie my other flies.

Step 22 Bring the lowest of the three tinsels forward in five turns. End up on top of the shank to a point where you expect the third tinsel to end on top and exactly rear of the head/wing. Tie off each material with one or two turns of thread and trim the waste. I try to tie off material on the sides or bottom of the shank and of course, these ends will be staggered so the tie off will not be all in one place.

Step 23 Advance the rib floss between the tinsel.

Step 24 Attach the throat. Do not trim the waste of this or any following material until the fly is complete. This will give each succeeding material a bed to lay on.

Step 25 Apply the first throat side.

Step 26 Apply the second throat side.

Step 27 Apply the throat topping.

\ Step 28 Set the wing with very tight open and crossing turns of tightly twisted thread. I have long ago flattened the wing shaft tie in area with smooth face pliers. This will help set the wing tightly because the thread will not have to collapse this area of the feather shaft. By tying the feather to the shank with tightly twisted thread, we get maximum thread strength and the round thread will indent the shaft some for retention. The open turns, stabilize the tie in and the crossing turns lock it in place. The wing should be tightly tied in now and difficult to move. If it isn’t, retie it.

Step 29 Apply the shoulder.

Step 30 Apply the side.

Step 31 Apply the horns.

Step 32 Apply the topping. The topping on this fly is a few Peafowl barbs from the base of a tail feather. You can now trim all of the waste ends of the materials. I use a set of toenail clippers that look somewhat like wire cutters. They cut flush whereas scissors usually don’t. You have to be careful though, they will easily cut the thread and I do it all too often.

The finished beaded fly.

The techniques shown here can be expanded to make a more complex fly or simplified. They will help you tie almost any fully dressed fly with the exception of a married wing.

I hope this will inspire you to delve into the world of free style flies and consider using beads on your flies.

If you have any questions regarding beaded flies or beads in general, I am happy to answer them. I may also have beads available that are ready to tie with. Call me at 503-654-0466 or better yet, email at rlucas@cybcon.com. I can email photos of beads that I have for sale.

Happy Trails! ~ Ronn Lucas, Sr.

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