Firehole Bug Bands

A slim brass band that adds segmentation, a hot spot, or a touch of weight without changing the proportions of the fly.

At a Glance

• Pack: 36 bands
• Material: Brass
• Sizes: 2.5mm, 2.9mm, 3.3mm, 3.7mm, 4.3mm
• Colors: 13

Ties Well As

• Nymph thorax collars
• Hot spots and rib accents
• Slim euro-style nymphs
• Midge and micro patterns

From the Bench

Brass instead of tungsten is the point. You get the visual break without adding the sink rate, which matters on a fly you want drifting rather than dropping.

A band runs 0.02 grams at 2.5mm up to 0.14 at 4.3, roughly a fifth of what a tungsten bead the same size weighs. That makes it the finest weight adjustment in the line. Going up one bead size adds 0.12 grams whether you wanted that much or not; a band adds 0.04.