South Central Bead Co.

South Central Bead Co. owner Ken McKenna handcrafts salmon egg imitations that have fooled trophy trout across Alaska’s most productive rivers, built on years of field testing and a business rooted in friendship. We sat down with Ken to learn how a Texas bass fisherman turned Air Force mechanic became one of Alaska’s go-to bead makers.

For this month’s “Alaska Focus” blog, I interviewed Ken McKenna, owner and founder of South Central Bead Co. Ken is producing handmade beads meant to catch trout, char, grayling, and any other fish that keys into salmon spawn for food. Dead-drifting beads is one of the most effective means of catching rainbows, so I was very intrigued to talk with Ken.

I had the good fortune of spending time with Curt Trout before he passed, and rowed him down the upper Kenai several times. Curt is considered one of the early pioneers of bead fishing on the Kenai. On one adventure with Curt, over 20 years ago, I fished with a cast of highly skilled and veteran anglers on a Susitna Valley river while we filmed an episode of the “Exploring Alaska” show. Curt out-fished us all. There were enough trout for everyone, so no one minded. But I noticed.

Bead Fishing’s Roots on Alaska’s Rivers

I’ve spent my fair share of time tinkering with painting beads, and have also caught an adequate number of big trout from many different rivers while drifting beads. It’s a widely used technique in Southwest and Southcentral rivers where salmon and trout are present, and makes sense to have an Alaska-based, fishing-bead business.

I learned from Ken that when he was stationed in Anchorage in 2001, he started painting beads with a buddy who was also in the Air Force, so they could catch more trout. They talked about coming back after retiring and starting a fly shop, among other things. Ken told me that his buddy passed away unexpectedly, and that South Central Bead Co. is an homage to his buddy. Ken’s in business, first and foremost, because he enjoys it and loves to hear when people catch a memorable fish using one of his beads.

Ken is humble, thankful, respectful, and family-oriented. Plus, his beads catch fish. Not only did I catch my biggest rainbow of last year’s Togiak trip on one of his beads, but I gave some to another angler there who also caught his best trout.

The Origin of South Central Bead Co.

Fish Alaska magazine: Tell us about yourself and why you started this business.

South Central Bead Co.: I grew up in Texas fishing bass and crappie in nearby lakes. Joined the service in ‘99 and did 20 years as an aircraft mechanic. Got stationed at Elmendorf AFB in 2001 and fell in love with trout and salmon fishing. The moving waters of creeks and rivers was the primary draw I think. After I retired, the family and I moved back to Alaska where I wanted to do something outside the aircraft industry and more in line with what I enjoyed.

I was a fishing guide for the first year and loved it, but spent too much time away from the family that summer. I had been playing around with the idea of a bead business and had some proven effective colors that worked on the river I guided and creeks near to home. During the winter of 2019 we officially started South Central Bead Co.

Bead Design and Variety

Fish Alaska magazine: Tell us about the process of making a finished bead.

South Central Bead Co.: We use high-quality acrylic- and acetate-base beads from a U.S. manufacturer to start off. Once we receive the bulk beads there are several “steps” and medias we use to get a finished product. The main problem with running a handmade-bead business lies in maintaining supply. So the largest hurdle to tackle was designing a way to finish and package the products so that supply could feasibly keep up with demand. The “steps” we use have been fine-tuned over the years to create a workflow that two people can keep up with. We are continually improving these “steps” to make the process more efficient while maintaining the same handcrafted product. Recently we built a dedicated 32’x16’ shop that has decreased time and increased efficiency drastically.

Fish Alaska magazine: How many patterns do you have; how do you invent and name new ones?

South Central Bead Co.: For 2026 we have 14 primary colors available in 6, 7, 8, and 10 mm sizes. Each year we spend quite a bit of time conducting field research to see how we can improve our range of options. Once we have a new color that has proven effective we sit down and roundtable the names with the family.

Built on Discipline: The Philosophy Behind Every Bead

Fish Alaska magazine: What are your core business values?

South Central Bead Co.:

Alaskan-Proven: Tested on the water. We don’t guess what works; we fish it. Mimicking nature: Our designs are focused on the “natural egg life cycle,” ensuring our products match the specific realism required to fool pressured fish.

Service-Driven Integrity: Built on discipline, we carry the values of 20 years of Air Force service into our business operations. We value the trust you place in our gear and handle every order with the same attention to detail we used in our military careers.

Respect for the Rhythm: We follow the natural flow of the Alaskan year—winter for the majority of production, spring for preparation, and summer/fall for field testing.

Quality over Quantity: We don’t sacrifice quality to increase production speed, we fine tune our production cycle to increase quantity. Every color profile is created with a specific hatch or water condition in mind.

Creating an effective egg imitation that can be fished right out of the bag while still enjoying the business aspect of it all is our primary personal goal.

When the Fish Aren’t Eating Your Own Beads

Fish Alaska magazine: Share a story of someone using your beads.

South Central Bead Co.: This past August I was walking an easily accessible creek with a friend. We could see plenty of fish, but no matter what size/color we switched to, they just weren’t consistently eating our presentation. As a bead-business owner you start sweating in that kind of situation! So I start rummaging through the “big bead box” switching out and changing colors as quickly as possible to find something that worked. After doing this for a while, we started making our way downstream having a conversation about the fish being “glutted” or perhaps it was “barometric pressure!” Any of the things we could say to save face. Ha!

Anyhow, long story short, we turned a bend and started hearing some “hootin’ and hollerin’” from a couple of guys downstream. We caught up to them and pathetically asked “what are you guys fishing?” One of the guys showed me his rig and it was one of the 7 mm beads in our 2025 color range…the bead my buddy and I started off with. The two guys told us how they had been “crushing” the entire walk down. Buddy and I looked at each other, kinda laughed, asked them if it would be okay if we passed them up and continued our walk downstream. They had no problem with it, so we scooted around to the next bend, quickly switched back to our “original” bead and proceeded to “crush” the remainder of that day!

Check out more Alaskan businesses featured on our Alaska Focus blog.