Guide to Trout Fishing with Beads

Niagara Trout Beads

As trout season approaches, I thought it would be a good time to discuss beads, which are one of the most popular baits for trout in the Niagara area and throughout the Great Lakes.

Beads come in many sizes, colours and compositions, and have become a huge part of most great lakes fisherman’s arsenals.

Beads can be made out of soft rubber, plastic/acrylic, or glass, and depending on their composition, make them suited for different techniques.

Beads for Trout

For such a sought after and challenging fish to catch, I’m often bewildered when a steelhead eats my bead on the Niagara River.

The Niagara River averages a flow rate of 85, 000 cubic feet per second, and somehow steelhead and browns find a tiny 6 or 8mm plastic bead and decide to eat it when it drifts by. It may not seem that incredible if you’ve never drifted the river from a boat, but once you experience the sheer strength and size of the river, you’ll quickly understand my bewilderment.

Here are a few types of beads and when you want to use each of them.

Plastic/Acrylic Beads

Acrylic beads are probably the most popular and versatile beads around the Great Lakes and come in sizes from 6mm to 14mm in over a hundred colours.

Beads are easily rigged to a leader line using a “peggz” or toothpick.

Plastic beads are advertised to be “neutrally buoyant”, and while they are certainly lighter than glass beads, they are more “slow sinking” than anything. Because of this, plastic beads are a great option for both float fishing and bottom bouncing in faster currents.

Depending on water colour/clarity, different colours and sizes of plastic beads work as attractors in front of roe, or as the main course themselves.

Here are some of my favourites in different conditions:

Glass Beads

The use of glass beads by tributary anglers around the Great Lakes has increased big time in the past few years. Anglers have discovered the benefits to using a bead that sinks under their float so that they put it right in front of fish holding close to bottom.

I personally don’t use any glass beads, as I’m most often bottom bouncing and want my baits to drift neutrally in the current rather than sink. If I’m float fishing, I can see the benefit to using a sinking glass bead, but still opt for an acrylic bead because it’s what I’ve always fished and have confidence in.

Glass beads can be rigged with “peggz” just like plastic beads.

Soft beads

Different iterations of soft beads have been on the market for years, but with advancements to plastic manufacturing and scent integration, there are a few noteworthy soft beads available that have become popular. One key to fishing soft beads is understanding that they are “pegged” onto the line with bobber stops rather than with “peggz” that would otherwise go through the centre of a plastic or glass bead. Instead, soft beads require a small needle to thread the bead onto your line, and a bobber stop to hold the bead in place.

An advantage to soft plastic beads is that they carry scent more easily and are soft when a fish chomps down, causing them to hang on a bit longer.

Tandem

Presenting two baits to trout on one line with multiple hooks is usually referred to as a tandem rig in the trout world, and must be done in accordance to local laws (always check your fishing regulations).

I believe what makes the tandem rig so deadly is that it keeps your baits in the strike zone better than a singular bead which gets tossed around in heavy current. Usually, my tandem rigs have a larger bead in front of a smaller bead or piece of yarn, but it often pays to experiment by throwing corkies or yarn into the mix.

When talking beads, the most common practice is to run a brighter, and usually larger “attractor” bead in front of a more natural, smaller bead on the trailing hook. In general, the clearer the water, the farther away you want to space the two beads from each other.

In clear water, I like to run an 8mm bead ahead of a 6mm bead. It’s hard to believe trout can see the 6mm bead, but when the water is gin-clear, going ultra-finesse will get bites.

Experimenting with different colours and combinations can be one of the most enjoyable parts of trout fishing when you finally crack the code during a tough bite.

This fall, consider stocking up on some different bead sizes, colours and compositions to have as many tools at your disposal for fooling some of the toughest fish around the great lakes!