Fly Tying Beads & Eyes

Fly tying beads and eyes add weight to sink a fly and visual detail that can suggest eyes, eggs or segmented bodies. The selection runs deep, covering tungsten, brass, lead and glass beads and bead heads, plus bead-chain eyes, cyclops brass eyes, skull living eyes, double-pupil dumbbell eyes, adhesive eyes, holographic eyes, hourglass eyes and cones, with hundreds in stock from Hareline, Wapsi, Firehole Fishing and more.

How bead material controls sink rate

• Tungsten: denser than brass or lead, helping flies sink quickly.
• Lead: similarly heavy with a fast sink rate, though some tyers avoid it for environmental reasons.
• Brass: moderate weight and more control over depth in slower water.
• Glass: light, translucent detail with less weight than metal beads, useful for subtle patterns.

Beads and eyes feature in everything from weighted nymphs to streamers like the Clouser Minnow, helping build patterns for bass, trout, salmon and many other species. To match bead size to hook size, see our bead size guide, and for setups beyond a single bead head, read our post on creative ways to weight your nymphs.

What is the difference between tungsten and brass beads?

Tungsten is denser than brass, so it sinks a fly faster at a smaller, more compact size, while brass gives a slower descent for shallower water.