fly tying lead wire
Weighted nymphs without oversized heads
Lead wire is an easy way to add weight to your nymphs. This extra weight makes the artificial fly sink faster and you can present it at the desired water depth for longer. The flexible and comparatively soft lead wire is also very easy to tie in and adapts to different shapes without any problems. In this way, you can create a very realistic silhouette of your nymph in one tying step, wrapping a shaped underbody of lead wire onto the hook shank. This allows you to create deceptively realistic imitations of real insect larvae on the tying vise, which sink very well even without an over-proportioned head bead. In addition, lead wire also allows you to distribute the weight better over the entire hook shank and to balance the nymph perfectly by cleverly placing the windings of the lead wire. By doing so, your fly not only looks absolutely lifelike, but also drifts very naturally. All these advantages leads catchier nymph patterns, which you can fish much more efficiently and therefore more successfully.
Lead wire is used to weigh down nymphs and wets nymphs. It is tie on the hook by winding, forming a sub-body that will then be covered by the fly tying material. Often used in combination with tungsten beads, this allows you to get a very heavy nymph without having to oversize the beads, with the risk of making the silhouette of your dressing out of proportion. Flat lead wire is often used to weigh down small wets nymphs without a tungsten beads.