What it is
Hareline Tungsten Cones are tungsten coneheads that slide onto the hook to form a conehead at the front of the fly. Tungsten is dense and gives you a high weight-to-size ratio, so you can get a quick-sinking fly without building a bulky head. They’re also wear-resistant and durable, so they hold up when they’re ticking rocks or teeth.
What to tie with it
Use them to add weight and to control sink rate while also shaping a clean conehead fly head. At the vise you’ll slide the cone onto the hook shank before tying, then build a thread dam behind it to seat it and to set your head profile. They’re a natural fit for weighted nymphs and streamers when you want the fly to drop fast and stay compact.
Flies and the fish they're for
These cones don’t belong to one signature named pattern on their own; they’re a hardware choice you can put on many conehead streamers and heavier nymphs. In freshwater that usually means getting down to trout holding in faster runs and deeper pockets, or putting a streamer in the zone for smallmouth and largemouth bass along ledges and banks. In saltwater, conehead streamers are a common way to make a baitfish or shrimp-style fly sink and track deeper for fish like striped bass and redfish when current or depth demands it.
How it compares
Compared with adding weight in ways that increase the fly’s profile, tungsten cones give you weight without extra bulk because of tungsten’s density and high weight-to-size ratio.
