A Fly Tying Renaissance: Why the Tungsten Crisis Isn't All Bad

If you haven't heard, tungsten bead prices are through the roof. Turns out, it's useful for a lot of other applications besides making our flies sink faster. Like munitions, electronics, precision manufacturing, and renewable energy. All of these things are experiencing increased demand. And with the orange idiot taking a torch to global trade, our precious little beads are only going to get more expensive before settling at a new normal.

If you haven't already given it a read, I strongly recommend heading over to Feather Craft Fly Fishing, whose blog has a very informative article on why the nature of fly fishing and fly tying is going to change quite a bit moving forward. They make some pretty alarming conclusions, many of which I agree with wholeheartedly. So this is bad, really bad! Right?

Well...maybe not. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I think that the Tungsten Crisis will split the fly fishing world into two camps. One camp will happily or begrudgingly plunk down more cash for their precious tungsten beads. The other camp will look for alternatives, and they will become more versatile, more successful anglers in the process. Because I think that we have leaned way too heavily on beads (tungsten especially), and have forgotten some very important, ancient knowledge that deserves rediscovering.

Beads Haven't Been Around Forever

I recently won a raffle drawing at my local Trout Unlimited chapter meeting. The prize: a

spiral-bound Second Edition copy of Tying Flies with Jack Dennis and Friends, published way back in 1993. Excited to discover some long-lost gems, I started flipping through the pages. I was knee deep in learning as much as I could about indicator nymphing, so I flipped to the section on nymphs and realized something. Where were the bead heads? Back to the table of contents.

One. One pattern. The Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph, by Joe Burke. Rather than paraphrase, here's a selection from the book:

"When Mike Lawson drove over ... one of the first things he said was: 'I know you're getting down to the wire on this book, but there was a series of flies that was so deadly for our clients ... that you should really find room for it. They are the bead head flies. You can put a bead head on any nymph and it immediately becomes more effective . . . . We've got reports of guys having the best angling days of their lives . . . . The Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph is a last minute addition to this manual. With the remarkable bead head tales that area guides are reporting, it would be a shame to overlook it.

Here it is in 1993! The bead inflection point! It didn't happen with the rise of the industrial era in the 1920s, or the post-WWII boom of the 1950s. Beads made their appearance in the 90s with Bill Clinton, the artist formerly known as Prince, grunge music, and Beavis & Butthead!

Also, just as a side note, if you think fly fishing is hoity-toity today, get a load of this quote from Umpqua:

"At Umpqua, we use a 24K gold plated bead which does not tarnish like the brass beads do. The shiny round head has the same sparkle no matter what angle the fish sees it from."

And the rest is history. Bead head nymph patterns became the norm. Non-beaded or unweighted nymphs became the exception. As a whole, fly anglers are probably catching more fish nowadays thanks to beads. But beads are just a tool; they shouldn't be the entire toolbox. There are some advantages to using lighter flies, whether they are brass beaded, nonbeaded, or unweighted. These include stealthier presentations and more lifelike and responsive movement in the subsurface currents.

How Do We Adapt?

So if we accept that there may be value in finding other ways to get our flies down in the strike zone, as well as incorporating older patterns, what should we do? Here's a short list that I've been able to come up with:

1. Incorporate more wire into your patterns. Explore options such as lead wire, tin wire, lead-free solder, and copper.

   
   

2. Use split shot to make drop-shot rigs or otherwise sink unweighted patterns down faster and provide more natural movement through the water column.

   
   

3. Tie sparser patterns that create less water resistance as they sink.

   
   

4. Use natural and synthetic materials in your flies that retain more water between casts.

   
   

5. Employ tuck casts and other techniques to create more sink time on your drifts.

   
   

6. Improve your line management skills to achieve longer dead drifts and more sink time for your flies.

   
   

7. Look for water features such as plunge pools and eddies that will pull your flies down faster.

   
   

8. Pick up older fly tying books and learn patterns and techniques that may have been lost to the passage of time.

   
   

9. Research trout behavior to learn when and why they may key in on presentations higher in the water column.

   
   

10. And if all else fails, in the immortal words of Letterkenney, figure it out.

So which angler will you be? Will you suck it up and plunk down more of your hard-earned cash for tungsten beads? Or will you commune with the ancestors and look for answers in the past? Speaking only for myself...