[DH Drifter]

I have recently started using Beadalon .18 wire for my stinger hook flies. I like the cost and diameter better then Senyo.

Yesterday, I hooked a large fish that I could never really turn
After wading down to the fish, we attempted to tail it, it twisted, snapped its tail and was gone.

I assumed The fly was going to be gone, but that was not the case. What I found was the wire had been stripped of its coating and had literally shredded apart. All I could see was little strands of fine wire. I am assuming that the back-and-forth of this fight which lasted between 10 and 15 minutes might've actually cut the wire where the loop connected to the hook eye.

Anybody have any experience with this? Or can you provide me any idea of why or how that could've happened? Obviously it was great to hook such a wonderful fish, but I really would've liked to have been able to land it. Seeing failed wire was disappointing.

 

[Big_E]

How do you connect the stinger...do you loop one end thru the eye or do you feed both thru and put the loop over the back of the stinger?

 

[wrx_canoe]

I used Bead-a-lon 49 strand all last fall on my stinger hooks.

Yes, they occassionally fray very quickly and break. I think out of the 15 flies I fished last fall with it about 2-3 frayed and broke. 1 of them frayed and broke in a few hours! I think this was a case where I crimped it accidentally with my vise head when tying. Another one frayed after about 2 days of fishing. Last one broke after landing 15 steelhead in a row.

In short, you need to keep an eye on the integrity of the wire. The first thing to go is the coating, then you'll see a strand or two broken, then catastrophic failure.

This fall I tried the 16 strand version hoping the few strands equals slightly larger diameter individual pieces which won't fray so fast. Unfortunately I didn't touch many fish this fall. So I haven't been able to form an opinion.

If this continues I'll likely switch to another wire. Maybe try Senyos.

I don't like fireline, powerpro, mono, etc and nothing keeps the hook in position quite as good as a stiff wire (but pliable enough to bend for fighting fish).

 

[Fish Tech]

Eliminate this problem by only using the Beadlon wire to form a small rear loop to run the tippet through and rig the hook separately on the stream "Ed Ward" style.

 

[Bill S]

Beadalon .018 wire is made in several tensile strengths, some as low as 16#. I think the spool lists the breaking strength.

Breakage is one of the key reasons I don't use Beadalon anymore, and I used the higher breaking strength wire. Can't take the trauma of losing a nice fish because the fly broke. Maybe if I hooked more fish it would be ok, but I don't....

 

[Stumpy]

Recently I thought I'd be clever and capture the beadalon along with the tail of a shank thinking I'd have better hold and control. Upon my pull test after finishing the fly, the wire broke right where I pinched it with my vise. Shame on me!

I've worn several good flies to the point of being nearly featherless over several years without a wire failure, so I'm confident on the strength if not compromised by operator error.