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Firehole Outdoors is pleased to provide the world’s first hook-based weight management system for the fly tying/fishing industry!

Under development for the better part of five years, I am happy to present to you a system designed to give you an easy and precise method to weight your flies. This system incorporates three components; a tungsten bead, a brass bug band, and a tungsten tear drop body. With nearly 600 available weight combinations ranging from 0.02 grams to 1.58 grams you are able to create the right combination for your specific needs.

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Components of the Hook-Based Weight Management System

FIREHOLE STONES TEAR DROP BODY - This is a through hole, tear drop shaped tungsten body; differing from current offerings which sit on top of the hook. This product has been in various levels of development for over 4 years, having been through a half dozen mold changes and two years of field testing; long enough to have already been copied (much longer story, thank goodness for US patent filings). This product was always intended to be released with my original Bug Collars years ago.

The tear drop itself slides onto a hook just like a slotted bead. The shape is designed to heavily weight the fly in the general thorax position of your fly and then quickly tapers for a body transition. The shape and method of attachment are both designed to center the weight on the hook and create a realistic fly profile.

The Firehole Stones Tear Drop Bodies are available in six (6) sizes in Birthday Suit.

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FIREHOLE STONES BUG BAND - The bug band is a slim specialty bead that is made of fully machined brass. As an integral part of the weight management system the Bug Band has several purposes. The most common use of the Bug Band will likely be the immediate addition of a hotspot behind the bead of your fly. Their size, shape, and construction also allow them to be added to any part of the fly, should you require intermediate hotspots, while maintaining the profile of the fly you are tying since varying sizes can be added anywhere in the fly profile.

The Firehole Stones Bug Band is available in five (5) sizes and thirteen (13) colors. As a brass bead the weight of the bug band is roughly 20% of that of a comparably sized tungsten bead. 

Fly Weight Color Coding System - One of the most advantageous purposes of the Bug Band is that they work very well as a fly weight color coding system in your fly box. Using the Additive Weight Calculations charts or the online calculator you can choose how to weight your flies and then select bug band colors to represent those weights in your fly box. We have seen excellent results with fly tyers/fishers choosing different colors to represent weight bracketed in 0.1 gram blocks.

The Additive Weight Calculations charts shown below are available for download in the link below.

Additive Weight ChartROUND STONES
Additive Weight ChartSLOTTED STONES
Entire Weight System PDF!Includes a full product catalog!
Weight System Calculator!Every combination right here!
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Practical Example: Can you tell which of the flies above has additive weight (not including the hook) of 0.30, 0.34, 0.44, 0.53, or 0.66 grams? With color coding you can! Answer: no band, green, silver, red, and brown respectively.

FIREHOLE STONES ROUND & SLOTTED STONES - Our round and slotted tungsten beads are purposely engineered (yes, i went there; engineered with molds exclusive to Firehole Outdoors) to be the same sizes and similar weights (within a few 100th’s of a gram, by size, bead for bead over a 50-bead average). This is neither coincidence or convenience. It is a purposeful design to ensure that the tyer has consistency in their tying materials.

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