For fly tiers, Dr. Slick has introduced a new tool, the bead tweezer. For years, I have struggled to find an easy, reliable way to slip a bead onto a hook when tying beadhead nymphs. Tweezers, fingers or table top all failed to provide a stable target for my hook. Many a bead wound up on the floor as I struggled to thread a hook through the hole in the bead. Then I discovered Dr. Slick’s bead tweezer.

The bead tweezer differs from the usual fly tying tweezers in three major ways. The tips are larger, shaped like small paddles. They easily engage or trap a bead. The tips are coated with rubber, which securely holds the bead in place. Lastly, the tweezer is self- retaining. Most tweezers require pressure on the handles to hold something. But the bead tweezers operate just the opposite. Pressure is applied to open the tips, and when released, the tips maintain pressure upon the captured bead.

So if you tie flies, I suggest that you give Dr. Slick’s Bead Tweezer a try. They retail for only $9.96.

written by Al Simpson, 6/23