Fishing for trout, steelhead, and salmon in the Great Lakes' rivers can be improved with the use of trout beads. With over a decade of steelhead fishing experience as well as speaking to many different fishing guides, I pulled together this trout bead fishing guide to help simplify the process and hopefully increase your chances of success on the river.
I don't know about you but I am a visual learner so I've gone ahead and tried to create charts and diagrams to help you follow along and simplify the learning process.
Different Styles & Brands of Trout Beads:
- There are many different styles of trout beads that are made from hard plastic, soft plastic, and glass
- I've talked to many different anglers and guides over the years and the used of different style beads really come down to personal preference
- My personal preference are the hard plastic beads from Troutbeads as I find they come in many different sizes, colors and styles that fit my personal needs when out on the river
- I pulled together a simple chart to outline the different style beads as well as links to where you buy these beads on our website
| Brand | Style | Details |
| Troutbeads | Hard Plastic | TroutBeads trout beads focus on re-creating the true colors and size of the fish eggs found drifting in your local waters. Our collection includes different colours, sizes, and styles of trout beads, preparing anglers for any type of river fishing conditions. Trout breads work great for salmon, steelhead, and other fish species. |
| Creek Candy | Glass | Creek Candy trout beads are glass and get you into the strike zone faster while keeping you there throughout your drift. Great for fishing steelhead, rainbow trout, brown trout, and salmon. This is the perfect fishing bait to add to your river fishing set-up. |
| River Reaper | Soft Plastic | River Reaper soft beads come in a range of high-quality, soft-plastic beads that mimic the look and texture of natural eggs. These beads are perfect for steelhead fishing, as they are designed to mimic the color, and texture of real eggs. |
Trout Bead Recommendations for Low & Clear Water Conditions:
- They key to success is to downsize presentation for steelhead, trout, or salmon fishing which means using smaller beads, hooks, and strength of your fluorocarbon leader
- We classify rivers to be clear when you can see bottom in many different sections with over 3ft of visibility
- We've ranked our favorite beads for low clear water conditions based on personal experience
- Use our convenient shopping links to recommended brands, trout beads, and hooks
|
RKP Ranking |
Brand |
Style |
Size |
Bead |
Hook |
Picture |
|
# 1 |
Hard Plastic |
6mm/8mm |
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# 2 |
Hard Plastic |
6mm |
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# 3 |
Hard Plastic |
6mm |
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# 4 |
Glass |
6mm/8mm |
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# 5 |
Glass |
6mm |
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# 6 |
Hard Plastic |
6mm |
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|||
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# 7 |
Hard Plastic |
6mm/8mm |
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|||
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# 8 |
Hard Plastic |
6mm/8mm |
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# 9 |
Hard Plastic |
6mm/8mm |
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# 10 |
Hard Plastic |
6mm |
|
Trout Bead Recommendations for Stained Water Conditions:
- They key to success when the water is stained or has a green hinge to it is really to get your bait in the strike zone and use brighter colors
- We classify rivers to be stained when you have between 1ft to 3ft of visibility in the sections where the fish will hold
- We've ranked our favorite beads for stained water conditions based on personal experience
- Use our convenient shopping links to recommended brands, trout beads, and hooks
|
RKP Ranking |
Brand |
Style |
Size |
Bead |
Hook |
Picture |
|
# 1 |
Hard Plastic |
8mm |
|
|||
|
# 2 |
Hard Plastic |
8mm |
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|||
|
# 3 |
Hard Plastic |
8mm |
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|||
|
# 4 |
Glass |
8mm |
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|||
|
# 5 |
Glass |
8mm |
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|||
| # 6 | Creek Candy | Glass | 8mm | Frosty Brown Roe | No. 8 |  |
|
# 7 |
Hard Plastic |
8mm |
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|
# 8 |
Glass |
8mm |
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| # 9 | Troutbeads | Hard Plastic | 8mm | Glow Roe | No. 8 |  |
| # 10 | Troutbeads | Hard Plastic | 8mm | Lemon Roe | No. 8 |  |
Trout Bead Recommendations for Muddy Water Conditions:
- They key to success is to run bigger baits in order for the fish to better see your bead
- We consider muddy water between a few inches of visibility to 8 inches of visibility
- We've ranked our favorite beads for low clear water conditions based on personal experience
- Use our convenient shopping links to recommended brands, trout beads, and hooks
|
RKP Ranking |
Brand |
Style |
Size |
Bead |
Hook |
Picture |
|
# 1 |
Hard Plastic |
10mm |
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|||
|
# 2 |
Hard Plastic |
10mm |
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# 3 |
Hard Plastic |
8mm |
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|
# 4 |
Hard Plastic |
8mm |
|
How to Rig your Trout Bead Set-up:
- Now that you have your trout beads and hooks, the only thing missing is your bead pegs in order to keep your bead pegged to your leader which you can buy here
- In order to learn how to set-up your trout beads, click here
The below diagrams belong to troubeads.com but offer a great visual in terms of bead fishing set-ups.
Step 1
- Trout beads
- Hooks
- Bead Peggs
- Split shots
Step 2
- slide your bead onto your leader and then stick the plastic peg in the bead hole in order to peg it to your line
Step 3
- Once your bead is pegged, tie your hook and then add split shots to your leader in order to get your bead down to the strike zone
What beads to use during different seasons
- Although we tailor our trout bead choices to the color of the water, certain beads tend to outperform others during different seasons
| Season | Bead | Description |
| Winter | Chartreuse | We find that during the winter months, chartreuse beads work extremely well as they tend to show much better in lower light/overcast conditions |
| Early Fall | Egg Yolk | As salmon begin to show up and spawn in the rivers, matching the hatch with yellow/egg yolk style bead can be very effective as steelhead will eat salmon eggs |
| Fall | Snow Roe/Dead Egg | As salmon start to die off and spawning slows, a dead egg bite can be very effective as steelhead will feed on eggs that have been sitting in the river for a while and typically have a white/milky look to them |
| Spring | Orange | As steelhead begin to enter the rivers, using a bright orange bead can be very effective as it tends to mimic the look of a trout egg which often times will out produce other colors |
Conclusion :
We hope this guide can help you catch more steelhead, trout and salmon when using trout beads. We carry all the gear you need in order to have a successful day on the water. Note that the above information is based on our experience out on the water as well as talking to local guides!
