THE "DENTAL FLOSS TRICK" FOR MOUNTING A BEAD ON TOP OF THE HOOK
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A bunch of you asked how I mount the silver lined glass bead on top of the hook as shown on my December 19 post. Some tyers use wire to lash the bead on. I’ve seen others take a length of thread and actually tie the bead on top of the hook shank by going through the hole in the bead six or seven times.
My friend, Rick Murphy, a fly designer for Rainys Flies, showed me the "dental floss trick.'. Rick said that he first saw flies tied with the bead on top of the hook when he was fishing New Mexico’s San Juan River tailwater. He said that he wasn’t 100 percent sure, but he thought that long time San Juan River guide and fly designer Johnny Gomez came up with the idea of using unwaxed dental floss to mount the bead.
It’s important to use unwaxed dental floss because waxed floss will gum everything up. The advantage of using unwaxed floss over other materials is that it’s flat and doesn’t roll like wire does when you try to lash it down. The “floss trick” is a lot easier to do than any other way I’ve tried and it’s faster, too.
You can take a 5-inch or 6-inch section of dental floss, tie an overhand knot on one end and “load” it by stringing on six or seven beads and then moving them up the floss as needed when you’re tying.
Check out the sequential photos and instructions:
Start the thread just behind the hook eye.
The silver-lined glass bead strung up on the dental floss.
Fold the floss over to form an open loop.
Position the loop to hold the bead with the hole facing you.
Lash both ends of the dental floss loop to the hook while maintaining the bead position.
Trim one end of the floss off short.
Trim the other end a little longer. This will give you a nice taper when you wrap over it with the tying thread
The nicely tapered thread base.
FINALLY.....
You can take a 5-inch or 6-inch section of dental floss, tie an overhand knot on one end and “load” it by stringing on six or seven beads and then moving them up the floss as needed when you’re tying.