Firehole Tear Drop™

Forward-weighted tungsten bodies. They change where the mass sits on the hook, which changes how the fly enters the water and how it tracks.

At a Glance

• Pack: 24 bodies. 18 at 3.6mm, 12 at 4.1mm
• Material: 95% tungsten alloy (W/Ni/Fe)
• Density: About 18 g/cm³, roughly 1.6 times lead
• Sizes: 2.0mm to 4.1mm
• Finish: Bare, unplated
• Bore: Drilled to resist rotation on the shank

Ties Well As

• Tactical euro patterns
• Perdigon variants
• Jig patterns that need forward loading
• Balanced nymphs and micro-streamers

From the Bench

A round bead and a tear drop of the same weight do not fish the same. The tapered profile cuts the column faster and holds a straighter line on the drop.

Tear Drops run 0.10 grams at 2.0mm up to 0.72 at 4.1. The largest one weighs the same as a 4.5mm slotted Stone but puts that weight in the thorax instead of the head, which is the whole reason to reach for one.

It shares a bore with our beads and Bug Bands, so you can add a head and a hotspot without changing what the body weighs. The Stone Stack has the full weight tables and which Tear Drop fits which hook.

On the Metal

Tungsten bodies are made from tungsten heavy alloy rather than pure tungsten: tungsten powder sintered with a few percent of nickel and iron. Pure tungsten is brittle and difficult to work, and the binder is what makes a body you can handle without it chipping.

Ours runs 95% tungsten, which puts it at about 18 g/cm³, roughly 1.6 times the density of lead. The category generally sits between 90% and 97%, a spread of about a gram and a half per cubic centimetre. On a 2.7mm body that is a difference of about two hundredths of a gram, where going up one size is eleven hundredths. Size moves weight far harder than purity does.