On Jan 22, 5:43*pm, "Larry L" wrote:
"Frank Reid © 2008" wrote

I primarily use them in high water to get flies down without extra
bulk.

I've only used them, so far, for a specific situation, i.e. fishing midge
pupa patterns on a long leader under a bobbercator in stillwater * * .... the
extra weight is worth the extra $ since it saves a lot of fishing time that
would just be waiting time with lighter flies

I too also use them for exactly that situation as well. It's a type
of fishing that many on ROFF may not be used to. Until I moved to
California and fished Lake Crowley I had never met anyone bobber
fishing with midges in stillwater. The tungsten beads I have are not
round but faceted so they are easily distinguishable from other bead
head materials - at least on my flies. There are two reasons why I
find them useful for stillwater midging. Sometimes the bobber is
adjusted so that the midge is rather deep (more than 10 feet from the
surface). If a fish takes on the drop it will not be easily noticed.
So I want to get to a tight line ASAP. The other reason is that when
there is an algae bloom the fast sinking fly seems to grab less of the
gunk. Again, algae bloom is also something that is peculiar to this
type of fishing.

The other times when I really need to get deep fast is when fishing
pocket water. However in most of the pocket water around here, having
a tungsten bead head really makes no difference - it just ain't heavy
enough. I lob one or two of the largest Dinsmore egg shots to get
down deep in the white water.

Regarding some of the other mentions of getting deep quickly I was
reminded of not any specific passage from but a general note from Lee
Wulff's "Salmon on the Fly" about the skill required to get a fly to
sink deep enough (without shot or bead heads of course) while having a
natural action and without spooking the (Atlantic) salmon.

Mu