# Why I have stopped fishing trout beads



## Lightfoot (Feb 18, 2018)

Interesting post regarding beads, thanks for bringing it up. I've never used beads but have used a lot of glo-bugs. My first thought is a glo-bug would pass easily until I remember the hook. Is a glo-bug that much different than a nymph or other fly, in my case, probably. It was not uncommon for me to lose 40 or more glo-bugs in a single day of chuck and ducking for steelhead. I seldom lose more than a few nymphs because I tend to use other methods besides chuck and duck. This is going to bug me for a while.

Offshoot story. When I graduated high school most of my friends took a trip to Hawaii. I took a week trip to the Sierra Nevada to catch some trout. I dropped a starburst wrapper in the river early in the week and caught a trout a few miles downstream near the end of the week that had that starburst wrapper in its stomach. I doubt it would have passed the wrapper.


----------



## Botiz (Oct 21, 2010)

Another reason to practice catch and release, you don’t have to see the evidence of this kind of pollution.


----------



## Lightfoot (Feb 18, 2018)

Lol, head in sand approach. Outside of perch, I've probably kept less than 20 fish in the last 30 years.


----------



## Benzie Rover (Mar 17, 2008)

Elliot7595 said:


> Over the past couple of years bead fishing for steelhead seems to be one of the most used methods for targeting steelhead. It makes sense, it works, they are fairly cheap, and you don't have as big of a mess with using spawn. You really cant float down a west Michigan river and not see a plethora of beads dangling from the branches overhanging the river. I've been fishing beads as one of my main methods for steelhead fishing for years now and have caught some of my biggest fish using this method. One question no one has been asking though is, what happens when you snap off? Sooner or later the bead will break loose of its leader and make its way down the river.
> 
> A coworker of mine spent his opening weekend at trout camp and their group harvested their fair share of fish. Like many fisherman wonder, what are these fish eating this time of year? When cleaning their fish they checked each and everyone of the fishes stomachs. Every fish they cleaned had at least one trout bead in their stomach. What surprised me the most was that every fish they kept in the 12"-15" range had up to a dozen plus plastic beads in their stomachs. These beads ranged for 8mm-12mm which has left me wondering, can a 12" trout pass a 12mm bead through its digestive system? Does this pose a threat to trout populations on our west Michigan steelhead rivers?
> 
> I thought I would start this thread seeing this is the first I've heard of trout eating loose beads in the river. Has anyone else had any similar experiences while cleaning fish? Do you think fish can pass a bead through its digestive system? I'm no fish doctor but would like to hear others thoughts on this matter.


Typically, plastics do not pass through fish or other marine mammals and just accumulate in their gut. Often this will lead to infection, or will fill up the gut to the point where there is not enough room left in the stomach for the fish/bird/animal to ingest enough food to sustain itself. Trout beads would be no different in my opinion. The hard plastic will not conform to the gut as biological matter would after digestion and would invariable cause blockage, if it advanced past the gut. This is one of many reasons why I always have and still do fish spawn 95% of the time I am out for chrome. Score one for the spawn-crusted jackets and long noodle rods. 

SPAWN - worlds best biodegradable, local caught, wild-harvest, organic, and effective steelhead bait. Clearly, spawn needs a better marketing agent cause it has all the right buzz-words for success.


----------



## hypox (Jan 23, 2000)

You Eat a Credit Card’s Worth of Plastic Every Week - Nautilus


What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?



nautil.us


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

I saw a few articles about bass and plastics a while back. Still not much research for any species on the subject. One study did show that when you feed plastic to Brook Trout in a hatchery it doesn’t do them any good. A lot more research is needed to draw any conclusions. Maybe it should be included in the on line reports the DNR is taking now and they can see if it comes up often enough to warrant a targeted study. 






Data Needs to Assess Effects of Soft Plastic Lure Ingestion on Fish Populations | American Fisheries Society







fisheries.org


----------



## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

I’d like to see those stomach contents


----------



## Lindsey (Jan 22, 2000)

Not a steelhead fisherman but I thought that spawn is sometimes fished in little balls made of fine mesh or old pantyhose. Wouldn't those fabrics also accumulate in a fish gut?


----------



## Crestliner 16 (Aug 28, 2019)

A lot plastics, except for food grade, contains carcinogens due to the chemicals used to color, melting and molding. Most plastics are mixed with ammonium of one type or another blend. This is a huge problem with the atmosphere and pollution. A lot of people believe that carbon emissions are the only cause of global warming, however ammonium is more widely used in the process and production of all things plastic. 
There once was a Bill to ban the manufacturing of ammonium and nitrites both of which are highly dangerous, because once released into the atmosphere the chemical compounds reacts and forms into a gaseous cloud that does more than irritate the lungs, nasal passages,and eyes. 
I feel that there is less control over the emissions of gasses and various vapors that go undetected because a lot of this can't be easily scrubbed like carbon. Some is diverted back into the molding process, but that doesn't account for the majority of emissions. 
Ever heat something up in the microwave and have it taste off? Kinda like a plastic taste!


----------



## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Ranger Ray said:


> I don't fish beads. I never have, as I learned the lesson in the 70's with eggs treated with formaldehyde. I had a formula a old guy taught me, that worked awesome for using two to three eggs treated with formaldehyde on a hook. If treated a little too long, they would shrivel a bit. An unmistakable looking egg. Fishermen started talking at the bait shop how they were cleaning fish that would have one to several salmon eggs in them in the spring. Never gave it much thought, until one of the fishermen brought some of them in from a couple fish he had caught. So I started checking my fish, and would catch some that had my treated eggs in them also. They weren't passing or being digested. I always figured if the formaldehyde eggs didn't pass or digest, beads sure the hell weren't going to.


Thanks for adding this.

I have been wanting to do some back-country stream Trout fishing with salted minnows; obviously far more convenient. A couple years ago I was working in Ohio and a bait shop sign advertised “Salted Minnows,” so I bought some as I was quite soon going to be around that Trouty back-country much, much farther north. 

But before I headed up there, I was examining these minnows and thought they had an odd texture, and smelled funny. So I looked into this idea a little more and discovered some dead minnows are cured with formaldehyde. I did not want to fish with formaldehyde stuff, so I buried them all.

Eventually I will offer my local bait shop a little money for their dead minnows and salt my own.


----------



## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

I pulled a good sized feather out of a crappie one time that was being passed.
A slight Ewww factor.


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Lindsey said:


> Not a steelhead fisherman but I thought that spawn is sometimes fished in little balls made of fine mesh or old pantyhose. Wouldn't those fabrics also accumulate in a fish gut?


I would think so. Is it enough to cause a population wide problem? What else that we fish with can be eaten and cause issues? Hooks and lures/flies below a certain size? Lead weights? Strike indicators? Lures left hanging on underwater snags? I’m inclined to believe that lead is a bigger issue than anything else.


----------



## Lightfoot (Feb 18, 2018)

Years ago I had a couple of 55 gallon fish aquariums that were full of cichlids. While fishing a local trout stream I caught a very small sculpin which I ended up throwing in the tank. The sculpin quickly became the top dog but mainly hung out under a rock feature and I fed it red worms and night crawlers for over a year. I ran out of worms and decided to give it a couple of pautzki red label salmon eggs. The following morning it was dead. Kind of makes you wonder.


----------



## nichola8 (Oct 7, 2013)

Heres one from our trout camp. Out of the 12 trout our group kept, this 14ish brown was the only one with a pile of beads. They all had at least 1.









Sent from my SM-G970U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


----------



## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Wow!


----------



## westsidepolack (Feb 6, 2018)

Just recently started to dabble in beads, but after that las pick i think I might stick to fishing like I was. That would be a crappy way to die, if they die that way. By that I mean, that they are always trying to feed but yet they are full of junk and not getting any sustanance.

Sent from my LM-G900 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

nichola8 said:


> Heres one from our trout camp. Out of the 12 trout our group kept, this 14ish brown was the only one with a pile of beads. They all had at least 1.
> View attachment 833445
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G970U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


Quite a pic. My son checks the stomach of every steelhead he keeps and found no beads this season. But our local rivers aren’t full of trout. If you don’t mind saying, was this on an unmentionable or a _named_ stream? Size may make a difference. Anyway, it would be interesting to hear if beads continue to appear in fish over the summer though we wouldn’t be able to draw any firm conclusions from that.

This (beads) is an interesting topic and I’ll be following it across the forums. There seem to be some nascent attitudes developing that intrigue me.


----------



## Chriss83 (Sep 18, 2021)

kzoofisher said:


> Quite a pic. My son checks the stomach of every steelhead he keeps and found no beads this season. But our local rivers aren’t full of trout. If you don’t mind saying, was this on an unmentionable or a _named_ stream? Size may make a difference. Anyway, it would be interesting to hear if beads continue to appear in fish over the summer though we wouldn’t be able to draw any firm conclusions from that.
> 
> This (beads) is an interesting topic and I’ll be following it across the forums. There seem to be some nascent attitudes developing that intrigue me.


They intrigue you because you want all fly only.


----------



## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

Damn that's a bummer. I've never fished beads but that don't look good. I do get curious about them from time to time but after seeing this I may just stick with spoons, spinners, and plugs.


----------



## TheHighLIfe (Sep 5, 2017)

wow.

a long list of banning things above, based upon... well, I am not sure what
I see no reports of massive die offs nor dnr listing trout on the endangered species list
seems like it ain't broke
seems like this has been going on for 2 centuries

hopefully the anti-hunting/anti-fishing folks are too busy with identity issues or other political things to read this thread


----------



## Chriss83 (Sep 18, 2021)

TheHighLIfe said:


> wow.
> 
> a long list of banning things above, based upon... well, I am not sure what
> I see no reports of massive die offs nor dnr listing trout on the endangered species list
> ...


Unfortunately it's not normally anti fishing groups making fishing law changes. It's a certain group of fisherman.


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Chriss83 said:


> They intrigue you because you want all fly only.


I’d ask if you ever get tired of being wrong but obviously not, you’d be too exhausted to type by now.


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Chriss83 said:


> Unfortunately it's not normally anti fishing groups making fishing law changes. It's a certain group of fisherman.


Have you noticed who in this thread is worried about beads hurting fish? Of course you haven’t. Ask someone else to read it and explain it to you.


----------



## Chriss83 (Sep 18, 2021)

kzoofisher said:


> I’d ask if you ever get tired of being wrong but obviously not, you’d be too exhausted to type by now.


How am I wrong? Tu and fly guides have made more restricting laws to fisherman in this state than any group. FACT!


----------



## Chriss83 (Sep 18, 2021)

kzoofisher said:


> Have you noticed who in this thread is worried about beads hurting fish? Of course you haven’t. Ask someone else to read it and explain it to you.


You want all water to fly only you have openly admitted it man. Nothing you say has any meaning. You care about one thing and have proven it over amd over.


----------



## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

nichola8 said:


> Heres one from our trout camp. Out of the 12 trout our group kept, this 14ish brown was the only one with a pile of beads. They all had at least 1.
> View attachment 833445
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G970U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


I don’t fish this style so I’m in the dark on the subject but how are this many beads in the rivers? Are guys constantly breaking off? The referenced post mentioned each fish had one and this one had several. Are the being used like “chum?” What is going on here? 


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Chriss83 said:


> How am I wrong? Tu and fly guides have made more restricting laws to fisherman in this state than any group. FACT!


 This doesn’t have anything to do with your post that I quoted. That’s why I quoted you, so you’d remember what you wrote. Not sure why I’m surprised it didn’t work.


Chriss83 said:


> You want all water to fly only you have openly admitted it man. Nothing you say has any meaning. You care about one thing and have proven it over amd over.


I can’t decide if this is delusion or dementia. Doesn’t matter, I suppose.


----------



## John Hine (Mar 31, 2019)

I think they’re mostly anal beads & some Ben wa balls! Some folks are into that, some trout too.


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Boardman Brookies said:


> I don’t fish this style so I’m in the dark on the subject but how are this many beads in the rivers? Are guys constantly breaking off? The referenced post mentioned each fish had one and this one had several. Are the being used like “chum?” What is going on here?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


They’re fished bouncing over the bottom and often two at a time, it isn’t hard to lose dozens over a few weeks. Combine that with trout hanging below spawning areas and gorging on eggs and I can see some getting a belly full.


----------



## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

nichola8 said:


> Heres one from our trout camp. Out of the 12 trout our group kept, this 14ish brown was the only one with a pile of beads. They all had at least 1.
> View attachment 833445
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G970U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


Wow,


----------



## TriggerDiscipline (Sep 25, 2017)

Plastics contain endocrine disrupters that will turn the fish, and whatever eats the fish into a 🏳‍⚧️. Use spawn, spinners, or flies


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Plastic was invented in 1907. Apparently it makes people left handed, too.


----------



## Krystalflash (Nov 26, 2021)

Not sure where I land on this issue….I will say and this is without embellishment. Last December we made a few trips to the Niagara…a chartreuse 8-12mm bead is the go to day after day. Fish are taken a variety of stuff, but the bead is a staple. At one point late in the morning my back was shot and needed to take a break..I walked the shore line and picked up a 77 beads. I Was a bit disappointed, I brought them home cleaned them up. We won’t need a chartreuse beads for awhile. Like some on this site I’ve been stream fishing trout and salmon, well almost since this show started. Some on here can remember when a chartreuse wobble glow or corky was dangling at the end of just about everyones line. Styrofoam and paint…not far off from a bead…I’ve seen cedar sweeps on the Ausable with dozens of corkies wagging in the current back in the day. Folks talk about soft beads, like they were just invented. Does anyone remember Burl Brown and his Burl Nuggets..not then and not now was any of it good for a waterway. Just like lead..Ive heard although I don’t know if it’s accurate that high level lead wash in some GL streams is shocking. Mono/Braid left in the streams..None of its natural . But we love what we do and some if not most try to be as responsible as we interact with nature. But beads,rubber,line or lead non of its good…Banning beads is well ok I guess but it’s a drop in the bucket. But I do understand the concern When it comes to what we all eventually leave in our streams and on the land and most of do it without malice.


----------



## Krystalflash (Nov 26, 2021)

On another note…without anyone getting angry…Im Not being insulting or attempting to start something. I would consider myself not to be a whole lot different from any other passionate steelhead fisherman. On that note…I would think just like me many a steelhead person has hooked up and during battle,thought I hope its a hen.Why because you need eggs. You say to yourself that the fish be alright on the table…but if the freezer was full eggs, you may not kill that fish. This isn’t about C&R, get out there have fun and take a limit. Its a sport fishery. As for myself….beads have taken the pressure off me thinking I need fresh eggs every time I hit the water. Thus I kill less fish. When I was young I took way to many fish for the eggs. I told myself that harvesting the fish was for primarily for the table and eggs were a bonus…but I gave my head shake and asked myself, how many males have I kept. Some of the guys I fish with are obsessed with needing eggs. Just the other day we hooked a few and I guy asked “ bead or a bag” I said bead and told him what size and colour was working. He fished and landed a nice hen and was excited about having a supply of eggs…he also said he had eggs vacuum pack from 2018 but needed fresh stuff…just think about that…he just landed a fish on a bead. For a long time I felt the same way. Do I want a supply of eggs? Absolutely…I just need anywhere as many to feel confident…laws are different state to state-country to country, some areas it’s not illegal to strip a fish for eggs and let it go….I’ve watched guys doing well on beads and squirt loose browns in a ziplock and say the fish has a better chance of survival if the eggs get gently squeeze and revived then it would going on the stringer. The obsession with eggs is out of hand at that point. I’m not saying anything about harvesting a fish…absolutely get some and enjoy yourself. Some say artificial only…based on this topic that wouldn’t be a good thing..this concern pushes back to banning some forms of artificial bait..over the decades this topic has went full circle several times.


----------



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Very good posts Krystalflash and a lot of food for thought.


----------



## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

DNR certainly needs to look into the implications of the bead issue. Is it an issue that needs response? Don't know, but the OP's post, certainly has presented a possible issue. Not sure what the taking of fish eggs has to do with the bead issue, but hey, whatever.


----------



## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

I can see the resident trout below Tippy accumulating said beads. Not being able to pass them seems strange, but I guess...


----------



## piscatorial warrior (Sep 14, 2011)

I wonder if each bead gets eaten and passed several times on it's trip dowm stream?


----------



## Bob Hunter (Jan 19, 2016)

Krystalflash said:


> Not sure where I land on this issue….I will say and this is without embellishment. Last December we made a few trips to the Niagara…a chartreuse 8-12mm bead is the go to day after day. Fish are taken a variety of stuff, but the bead is a staple. At one point late in the morning my back was shot and needed to take a break..I walked the shore line and picked up a 77 beads. I Was a bit disappointed, I brought them home cleaned them up. We won’t need a chartreuse beads for awhile. Like some on this site I’ve been stream fishing trout and salmon, well almost since this show started. Some on here can remember when a chartreuse wobble glow or corky was dangling at the end of just about everyones line. Styrofoam and paint…not far off from a bead…I’ve seen cedar sweeps on the Ausable with dozens of corkies wagging in the current back in the day. Folks talk about soft beads, like they were just invented. Does anyone remember Burl Brown and his Burl Nuggets..not then and not now was any of it good for a waterway. Just like lead..Ive heard although I don’t know if it’s accurate that high level lead wash in some GL streams is shocking. Mono/Braid left in the streams..None of its natural . But we love what we do and some if not most try to be as responsible as we interact with nature. But beads,rubber,line or lead non of its good…Banning beads is well ok I guess but it’s a drop in the bucket. But I do understand the concern When it comes to what we all eventually leave in our streams and on the land and most of do it without malice.


And you would think that the number of cities dumping tons of sewage into our waters every time they get a decent rain would be addressed, but it’s been going on for decades


----------



## Pat P (Nov 19, 2013)

I recently read an article about stocker trout and their diets. I will try to find it but if I recall correctly, when trout are stocked they consume something like 16% edible food for some time period as they are learning what to eat after coming off a pellet diet. That number jumped to 40% or so after a few months, but what I took was that they eat all kinds of stuff off the bottom until they learn what to eat. It takes a while for them to que in on bugs. This may explain why smaller fish contained more plastic beads.


----------



## fishbucket (Jan 20, 2009)

I have caught browns on the PM with beads in them. Seems to be fairly common on the popular steelhead rivers.


----------



## Krystalflash (Nov 26, 2021)

Bob Hunter said:


> And you would think that the number of cities dumping tons of sewage into our waters every time they get a decent rain would be addressed, but it’s been going on for decades


You are absolutely correct. Sooooo many things…


----------



## Chriss83 (Sep 18, 2021)

Pat P said:


> I recently read an article about stocker trout and their diets. I will try to find it but if I recall correctly, when trout are stocked they consume something like 16% edible food for some time period as they are learning what to eat after coming off a pellet diet. That number jumped to 40% or so after a few months, but what I took was that they eat all kinds of stuff off the bottom until they learn what to eat. It takes a while for them to que in on bugs. This may explain why smaller fish contained more plastic beads.


I have seen that in lake trout brood stock that ate nothing but senkos and other plastics with smelt swimming all around them.


----------



## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

Chriss83 said:


> How am I wrong? Tu and fly guides have made more restricting laws to fisherman in this state than any group. FACT!


TU and guides have not “made more restricting laws” These groups are the ones attending the meetings and proposing changes but do not write the law. So that statement is 100% wrong. 


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


----------



## Cohojoe (Jan 19, 2016)

Elliot7595 said:


> Over the past couple of years bead fishing for steelhead seems to be one of the most used methods for targeting steelhead. It makes sense, it works, they are fairly cheap, and you don't have as big of a mess with using spawn. You really cant float down a west Michigan river and not see a plethora of beads dangling from the branches overhanging the river. I've been fishing beads as one of my main methods for steelhead fishing for years now and have caught some of my biggest fish using this method. One question no one has been asking though is, what happens when you snap off? Sooner or later the bead will break loose of its leader and make its way down the river.
> 
> A coworker of mine spent his opening weekend at trout camp and their group harvested their fair share of fish. Like many fisherman wonder, what are these fish eating this time of year? When cleaning their fish they checked each and everyone of the fishes stomachs. Every fish they cleaned had at least one trout bead in their stomach. What surprised me the most was that every fish they kept in the 12"-15" range had up to a dozen plus plastic beads in their stomachs. These beads ranged for 8mm-12mm which has left me wondering, can a 12" trout pass a 12mm bead through its digestive system? Does this pose a threat to trout populations on our west Michigan steelhead rivers?
> 
> I thought I would start this thread seeing this is the first I've heard of trout eating loose beads in the river. Has anyone else had any similar experiences while cleaning fish? Do you think fish can pass a bead through its digestive system? I'm no fish doctor but would like to hear others thoughts on this matter.


A few years ago I caught a late spring steelhead with beads in its stomach. After talking with others that fished the same river I discovered that it was becoming more common. I only use biodegradable beads now. 


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


----------



## skagitmaster (Dec 23, 2013)

I’m just guessing but there likely is greater steelhead/trout mortality from mishandling and “hero pics” than plastic beads.


----------



## Bob Hunter (Jan 19, 2016)

skagitmaster said:


> I’m just guessing but there likely is greater steelhead/trout mortality from mishandling and “hero pics” than plastic beads.


I totally agree!


----------



## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

Has anyone ever caught Kings, Atlantics, or Cohos with beads in their stomachs?


----------



## Krystalflash (Nov 26, 2021)

Plastic in the stomachs of any form of wildlife can’t be classified as good. But I still stand by the posts I made on this thread back on May 23rd and 24th.


----------

