Collection

Fly Tying Beads, Heads & Eyes

This hub is Spawn fly heads, beads, and eyes from the Ilwaco shop. Tungsten beads for sink rate. Slotted and football shapes for jig hooks. Eyes for Clousers and streamers. Molded fly heads when you want a finished baitfish profile without carving foam at midnight.

14 products
About this aisle

This hub is Spawn fly heads, beads, and eyes from the Ilwaco shop. Tungsten beads for sink rate. Slotted and football shapes for jig hooks. Eyes for Clousers and streamers. Molded fly heads when you want a finished baitfish profile without carving foam at midnight.

Tungsten vs brass (sink rate in plain language)

Tungsten is denser than brass. Same outer size, more weight, faster tick through the column. Brass is enough for many trout nymphs when you want moderate sink and a lower material cost. Reach for tungsten when you need to stay in the strike zone under current without stacking lead wraps until the fly looks like a sinker.

Read the full breakdown: tungsten vs brass beads for fly tying. For a slotted football profile built for jig and nymph hooks, start with Spawn Slotted Tungsten Football Beads. Fathom slotted tungsten rounds live on this aisle too.

Eyes and weighted heads

  • Spawn Eyes: built for Clousers, baitfish, and anything that needs a forward weight and a pupil that still looks like a baitfish under water.
  • Spawn fly heads (Crew Boss, Sniper, Kestrel, Cala Marty, Crash Test Yummy): molded profiles for streamers and forage patterns. Single packs and 5-packs, plus a variety 5-pack when you want to test shapes.

Eyes add weight and the look of a living head. Beads add weight with a smaller footprint. Pick based on the pattern, not the marketing noun.

Shapes on this aisle

  • Slotted tungsten: seats on jig hooks a through-hole round will fight. See also slotted vs through-hole beads.
  • Football slotted: wider profile, larger eye presence on stoneflies and jig nymphs.
  • Molded fly heads: finished baitfish / forage heads when you want shape without stacking materials.

Hooks and shanks: Spawn shanks, hooks, and jigs. Sibling bead browsing: fly tying beads.

Weights FAQ

Bead only vs bead plus lead wraps?

Start with the bead. Add wraps only when the fly still will not hold depth. Extra lead changes the balance and the look. Tungsten often removes the need for a second weight layer.

When do I use slotted football vs a round slotted bead?

Football when you want a broader head and a stonefly / heavier nymph silhouette. Round slotted when you want a classic bead-head look on a jig hook. Through-hole rounds belong on standard straight-eye hooks. Details in the slotted vs through-hole guide.

Euro / jig notes?

Jig hooks like a slot. Euro nymphs like dense tungsten in smaller diameters so the fly stays slim. Match bead size to hook gap before you force a 7.5 mm onto a hook that cannot carry it.

Why did the old meta talk about rods and reels?

That was leftover catalog boilerplate. This page is beads, heads, and eyes. Full stop.