Northwest Fishing Reports

The subject of this post basically says it all. When you are drift fishing/bobber dogging with beads or corkies, or if you are sinking beads under a float, do you peg the beads/corkies a few inches up from the hook, or do you let them ride all the way down to the eye? I have always just let my corkies ride on the eye and had success (not landed fish on beads yet, but not tried a lot either), but it seems like a lot of people like to peg them as well. How far up do you typically go?

And just for clarity, lets rule out any situations where you peg a corky/bead that is too big to ride right on the hook eye without missing your hooksets. Just assume that everything is sized appropriately so that you can effectively fish either way.

The only reason to peg is so that the fish doesn't inhale the hook. Fishing for native steelhead, peg it about 2 inches up the leader, you hook on the outside of the mouth rather than in the gut. I never peg my beads when we're looking to kill, because it'll ride right up on the hook regardless. Bobber fishing with 'em, the split shot on your leader keeps it from riding up as well. I'm not worried about it, and I fish beads not corkies. Used to fish cork but at the cost of them, it's not worth it to me when I can get 100 beads for a buck. That's my opinion, I know a lot of guys that vehemently believe that you have to peg it for whatever reason. When your bead is pegged, you are going to have to get a nice solid hook set, because the jaw is tougher to pierce than the inside of the mouth. The barbless hooks help to get better penetration when we're catch and release, but barbs take a lot to get 'em 'em all the way in.

I drift corkies and do not peg them. The current keeps the corky on the eye of the hook.
I have floated beads a few times with success. I peg them because all the literature I've read says to. I peg them about 2" from the hook. They are somewhat bouyant and pegging them keeps them in the right spot. I have yet to miss a hookset. Also, I've heard(not positive if it's true or not) that when using beads legally in Alaska, they must be pegged.

I peg with bobber and drifting. The only issue I have when drifting sometimes the bead moves down to hook so I move it back to where I want it if I have to do this several times it will weaken the line. I have had a few issues with fish breaking me off right above the hook from time to time.

I just started fishing beads this year, Ive been pegging them about 2 inches above the hook.

This comes from my experience working, running clients that may not have the strongest hook set. If it's not necessary, in my opinion, why do it? The only reason that I can see to run them that way is that they hook in the jaw, not the throat, with hatchery fish that are getting bonked, I'd rather bring them in by the throat, they aren't getting away. Peg 'em if you want, but I would be more worried about getting them in the zone and presenting them right. I run split shot on the leader, spaced about ten inches and it puts the bead right where you want it. Set your depth about two feet deeper than the bottom, and the current keeps it right where you want it to be. I run egg loops so that you can put a little bit of yarn in the mix when you want to. Works great for chum, that way you're not going through a ton of jigs, the yarn hold up much better when chimped on by those nasty teeth.

natetreat wrote:Set your depth about two feet deeper than the bottom, and the current keeps it right where you want it to be.

I assume you are talking about bobber dogging with that comment, right?