"Pegged Attractors"

[Tigereye]

On the North Platte, where anglers maim 1 in 4 trout, Wyoming goes barbless, bans some bead rigs - WyoFile

‘Pegged attractors’ on fly fishing leaders, which caught on in the last decade, will no longer be allowed in Gray Reef and Cardwell sections of the popular fishery.

wyofile.com

Interesting article. I see alot of this in the NY salmon and steelhead fisheries. Pegged beads. I never really understood the concept. Perhaps my ignorance is showing but if the idea is to have the fish bite the "attractor" then set the hook into it's mouth not unlike flossing; why not just put the bead or egg on the hook and have the fish eat the bait? The hook then, is already in it's mouth.

 

[kbobb]

My understanding is that if the hook is in the bead the fish can swallow the hook/bead and get hooked deep. with the bead pegged away from the hook, when a fish takes the bead the hook is pulled onto the outside of the mouth preventing deep hooking.
At least this is what I thought I read. The technique is used a lot in alaska and steelheading like you said.

In PA the bead must be within 2" of the hook I believe - but check the regulation book for details.

In the Colorado article, it will be hard to tell if barbless hooks or stopping pegging has the bigger impact on fish injuries because they've introduced 2 variables at one time.

I've pegged beads before with a barbless hook and have not had any incident of fish injury any worse than a standard barbless fly. This was steelheading.

 

[Tigereye]

Thanks...that's the best explanation I have heard

 

[jgish92]

Just two months ago, on the South Platte in Colorado, I had a guide that used this rig with a squirmy as the attractor. I'd never seen it before. I was shocked it worked as well as it did.

 

[dudemanspecial]

In PA the bead must be within 2" of the hook I believe - but check the regulation book for details.

Interesting that is a reg I was unaware of.
I would never fish like that though so I wouldn't really need to know.

 

[Bamboozle]

Definitely not even close to the same thing, but I caught about 8 sunnies last Saturday at a local pond on one of my slip float beads pushed on to a barbless #10 bait hook.

FWIW - I also caught a few on bare hook. They were pretty voracious that day. 😉

 

[tomgamber]

Snagging😉

 

[Nocktavius]

So is the pegged attractor ban intended to protect fish specifically from swallowing a hook in live bait (like a salmon egg) or an artificial? Because in the latter case, wouldn't the pegged bead rig actually be safer for the welfare of the released animal than fishing say a size 16 squirminator (if the fish out there are actually dumb enough to swallow facsimiles).

I've also never had a fish swallow any artificial nymph or streamer, although this past spring I had a few trout take size 10-12 dries deep enough that I couldn't in good conscience remove them and opted to cut them off instead. Sucks bc on both occasions it was one of the last of those patterns I had.

 

[Bamboozle]

After a little bit a research, I THINK the depending on the rig and the distance between the hook and the bead, a certain number of fish are hooked not IN the mouth like fly fishermen are used to, but on the outside of the mouth like on the maxillary process or "upper lip."

IF I am correct, when the fish get hooked there, the maxillary process gets partially or completely torn off during the fight mangling the mouth of the fish.

I read some accounts on some steelhead pages from pegged bead advocates who commented on no gut hooks and that "all fish were hooked in the mouth..."

But does that mean "in the vicinity of the mouth" or IN the mouth.

I haven't fished for steelhead in decades, so I have no clue...

 

[wbranch]

Pegged trout beads are illegal in PA but legal in NY & OH. I have seen dozens of guys using pegged trout beads on Elk Creek. I assume it depends on which CO you run into if he is going to enforce the law or let it slide. While I don't have any written text to link here I had seen on a FishErie.com forum a very lengthy discussion about trout beads. Finally a CO entered the discussion and provided a long post about how they were illegal and why.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Sounds dirty in several ways, Joe. Not that there's anything wrong with people's lifestyle choices....

 

[Tigereye]

Sounds dirty in several ways, Joe. Not that there's anything wrong with people's lifestyle choices....

😲😲😲😲😲😲

 

[[WR]]

Mostly it's used by "flossers" or snaggers. A lot of times a glow or UV bead above a glob or a single salmon egg or an EZ Eggs chain wrapped around a treble hook, which is illegal in a lot of western waters.

Alaska is a different game, I think it's sockeye and one other species they're allowed to use snagging rigs. In those cases it's the traditional entire family on the water catching food for the winter routine.

Have to go back and read rest of the thread, and reread the rules for PA. I use pegged indicators instead of the "more modern" ones because they lend themselves to a lot of other applications.

 

[bigslackwater]

WBranch, PA changed that rule. It's legal to use beads now on the Erie tribs. I use pegged beads often for steelhead. In Alaska there just as many beads as flies for sale in the fly shops. I always keep my hook about 2" from the bead. Most are cleanly hooked right inside the mouth and a few on the outer edge. There is no more damage to the fish than using a fly. The advantage is the bare hook holds better than most flies, even if barbless, and removing the hook is simple (No fly materials to get in the way). The disadvantage is the strike is quick and the spit it right away once they feel the hard plastic. You have to set the hook fast.

 

[rancid waders]

I ran into a guy on a NY trib making videos on beaded pegs. He grinned sheepishly to to avail. Sadly he was using a Winston.

 

[wbranch]

WBranch, PA changed that rule. It's legal to use beads now on the Erie tribs. I use pegged beads often for steelhead. In Alaska there just as many beads as flies for sale in the fly shops. I always keep my hook about 2" from the bead. Most are cleanly hooked right inside the mouth and a few on the outer edge. There is no more damage to the fish than using a fly. The advantage is the bare hook holds better than most flies, even if barbless, and removing the hook is simple (No fly materials to get in the way). The disadvantage is the strike is quick and the spit it right away once they feel the hard plastic. You have to set the hook fast.

Thanks for that post. Do you have a link to that section of the PFBC fishing regulations? Call me a dirty beader. I really don't care. I'm still fishing a fly rod with a fly line & a tapered leader. Elk has so much shale that even with an indicator you might lose a dozen flies a day to snags. I have never foul hooked a steelhead using beads. My hookups are about 50/50 on the inside or outside of the mandible. All bead caught chrome.