Hard Beads vs Soft Beads

To say that fishing with beads (whether it be soft beads or hard beads) has become popular would be an extreme understatement.  It doesn't matter if you’re fishing for Steelhead, Salmon, Char or Trout, these lures catch fish!

The effectiveness of these artificial lures is truly amazing, even over natural baits like roe. If you’re on any river these days you’ll want a selection of hard and soft beads in your arsenal.

Hard Beads

Hard beads, as the name implies, are hard plastic beads that are available in a variety of colours and sizes. TroutBeads and Spirit River UV2 are our two main hard bead suppliers.  They offer a large variety of natural looking beads that represent different eggs of different fish species or different shades of a washed-out egg.  There are also colours that are bright and noticeable to stand out in different water conditions.

Different types of TroutBeads:

• TroutBeads Standard
• TroutBeads Mottled
• TroutBeads Blood Dot

Hard Bead Sizes

Sizes of hard beads range from little 6mm up to larger 14mm with the most common size being 10mm.  Water conditions can be a factor in the selection of size and colour but we will say it is quite amazing to see how well fish can see these smaller presentations even in coloured water and faster moving water.

Securing Hard Beads with TroutBeads Peggz

A key to increasing your landing ratio with the hard beads is to use TroutBeads Peggz to secure your bead a few inches above your hook.  If a hard bead sits right against the top of the hook it is common for fish to miss the hook upon biting.

To use the TroutBeads Peggz, simply tie your hook as you typically would, slide the trout bead down your leader, take one of the Peggz and place it in the bead hole and pull the peg thru until it is snug. Then trim both ends flush with the bead.  The Peggz are tapered and if not pulled too far through the bead, can be re-used on another bead. 

TroutBeads are not a lure that is specific to gear fishing or fly fishing. When used by fly anglers, they are commonly fished with a strike indicator and are very popular and effective, especially when angling for trout or char that are keying in on spawning salmon eggs. 

Soft Beads for Fishing

Soft Beads, as the name implies, are beads made of softer plastic and are squishy to touch.  Like hard beads, soft beads are available in a huge array of colours. We offer BNR Soft Beads, Cleardrift Soft Beads and Mad River Soft Beads.

Soft Bead Sizes

Soft beads are available in 8mm to 32mm sizes.  One thing that really stood out this past salmon season was the effectiveness of some of the larger sized beads even in low, clear water conditions. The 20mm and 25mm were cleaning up on Coho and Chinook. 

Pegging Soft Beads

The hype on soft beads and their effectiveness is warranted.  Similar to the rigging of hard beads, soft beads can be and should be pegged a few inches above the hook. This helps increase the landing ratio especially when using the larger sized soft beads. Cleardrift and BNR Soft Beads conveniently come with their own pegs. BnR T-Stops can be purchased separately.

In summary, our evaluation of hard vs soft beads is that they are both extremely effective and you should, without a doubt, keep a good selection of both on hand in a variety of sizes and colours.

Be sure to spend some time with hard and soft beads on the end of your line to find your preferred sizes and colours. Use them with confidence because fish love to bite them! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by email searun2013@gmail.com, by phone at 604-931-5044 or stop by the shop at #110 1140 Austin Avenue in Coquitlam BC.

Good luck on the water.

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