This past week, a television show about Montana fly-fishing caught my eye, and it made an impression about modern fly choices during early season when rushing, tumbling waters swell over banks.

We've seen a revolution in weighted flies during the last 20 years, and the footage illustrated how prevalent these designs have become for fly-rodding in the West, which greatly influences American fly-fishing attitudes.

Three guides rowing in three different drift-boats each wore a broad-brimmed hat with fleece-lined hatbands for holding flies. Bead- and cone-head patterns crowded one another in the fleece, and I mean these weighted flies filled the hatbands chockablock full.

On one hat, I could not see a single fly without a bead or cone behind the eye, but admittedly, the river flowed high and fast with a rapidly undulating surface -- ideal conditions for weighted patterns.

One guide had more than 100 flies on his hat. So, being the anal-retentive type, I tried counting them during a long, close-up scene, showing the guide's face and hat -- just to prove to myself there were over 100. I hurriedly managed to count close to 80 flies, which included about three-quarters of the fleece.

Clients in the boats also wore hats festooned with bead- or cone-heads to combat the high water, and you can bet the nymphs without beads or cones had weighted wire wrapped under the dressing. (Flies with weighted wire are also popular, but more on that later).

Not two weeks ago, Bob Mallard at Kennebec River Outfitters in Madison told me rather emphatically that at his shop, weighted nymphs and Wooly Buggers far outsold unweighted ones in the same patterns. He said beads are particularly popular on Wooly Buggers.

You'd think the alleged problems with casting weighted flies would discourage most people from using them, but Mallard assured me weighted flies dominated.

Why? Serious fly rodders are learning to cast weighted patterns, so this style offers little problem for folks with adequate casting skills.

Mike Holt at Fly Fishing Only in Fairfield said large bead- and cone-head nymphs and Buggers are popular with his customers but, in the smaller sizes, they prefer unweighted nymphs. Holt felt small beads on the little patterns didn't add enough weight to get the fly down, so folks preferred split shot on the leader to sink the small larvae imitations.

Holt's explanation intrigued me big time because I do exactly the same thing -- use beads, cone-heads and weighted wire on bigger flies and choose split shot on the leader for little, unweighted patterns.

(Also, while on the subject, it's easier for tiers to put on a bead or cone-head instead of the weighted wire, which adds an extra tying step. The tier must wrap it on, cover it with thread or floss and seal it with head cement so it doesn't bleed onto the outer material. I've noticed lead substitutes don't bleed but wouldn't bet my 401K on the outcome so still seal the metal with floss or thread and cement).

Shiny beads and cones attract trout, particularly in lightly fished waters, but the bright metal may spook wary fish. This has led to a new trend -- dull, black beads or cones. Yes, the sport constantly evolves.

A lot of people don't realize the following point, but Nick Lyons from The Lyons Press had a lot to do with the popularity of bead-head flies in America. Several years ago, a French book about this fly style had gained notoriety across Europe, so Lyons published it in English. Then, bead-heads took off like a proverbial house afire on this side of the Atlantic.

Many people talk about the "chuck-and-duck" associated with casting weighted flies, a term describing a fly coming close to the head or body during the cast, making the caster duck or at least flinch.

If a fly rodder with a weighted fly is chucking and ducking, though, that person has one or two problems -- 1) too small of a fly rod or 2) a serious flaw in casting mechanics.

This past week while fishing in the Belgrade Lakes, I've been casting heavily weighted flies -- tung-head Wooly Buggers with weighted wire crammed into the hollow of the tung-head and then filled with epoxy to hold the wire in place.

This fly drops to bottom like a ball bearing, but it would be difficult to cast with a 3- to 5-weight rod. I opt for an 8-weight, which turns the fly over extremely well. In short, casting the weight becomes a non-issue with the right fly rod for the job. For really heavy flies, a bare minimum would be a 7-weight rod, but I like the 8-weight for my special cone-head Buggers and ultra-heavy size 2 to 6 Stoneflies.

The second problem with throwing weight with a fly rod involves poor mechanics.

A short casting stroke, proper wrist mechanics and precise timing on the back-cast are ultra-crucial, or the fly will whiz close to the ear. In short, weighted flies exaggerate casting flaws.

The biggest casting problem I notice with people throwing weighted flies involves too wide of a casting arc, a wimpy wrist and particularly, not waiting for the back-cast to nearly straighten out behind the caster. Polish these three skills and casting weight becomes safe and easy.

Without these casting skills, though, casters will be chucking and ducking.

A fly can easily travel in excess of 100 miles per hour when the caster double hauls, so this sharp, metal object can be a dangerous missile.

One Maine bulletin board constantly berates folks using weighted flies as if it is a huge issue. It's not. Beads, cones and weighted wire dominate the sport, as fly-fishing catalogs and local Maine fly shops show.

Fly rodders have widely accepted weighted flies for over a century, using French tinsel bodies, lead wire and even propellers on wet flies, the latter popular in the 19th century.

Hewitt No. 1 or No. 2 nymphs go back to the early part of the 20th century, and these patterns were nothing but flattened hunks of lead with a little floss, hackle wisps and enamel for the painted back.

It's odd what topics folks find to debate, but on the subject of weighted flies, that style is here to stay.

Ken Allen of Belgrade Lakes is a writer, editor and photographer.