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Tube Flies
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Fine Fly Tubes for Salmon and Sea Trout Fishing
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Newly developed for the 2008
season, Grays Needle Tubes, made from extremely
thin polished stainless steel tubing, are the
finest plastic lined metal tubes ever made for
fly tying, allowing the fly tier to make very
slim sea trout, steelhead and salmon tube flies. |
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Slim tube flies for salmon, steelhead and sea
trout tube fly fishing |
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The tube fly has long been
a favourite among fly tyers.
Tubes in a variety of
materials, such as plastic, aluminium, copper
and brass, have, for many
years, allowed flytyers to make tube
flies, for salmon, steelhead
and sea trout fly fishing, in a useful
range of lengths and weights to suit most
fishing conditions.
Another great advantage of the tube fly is its
durability, as the hook, whether single, double
or treble, can be easily replaced when damaged.
I have always
been a great fan of very slimline fly bodies,
particularly for sea trout fishing at night but
also for salmon fishing.
For many years now, I have used
needle flies,
the slimmest of all flies. More recently, I
collaborated with Dave Wallbridge in developing
micro tube flies,
undoubtedly
the thinnest metal tube fly ever devised.
Recent online discussions -
internet fishing forums are a great stimulus to
innovation - led to renewed efforts to produce
slim stainless steel fly
tying tubes with a traditional plastic
liner, with a view to making them available to
fly tyers worldwide. This resulted in a newly
developed range of
Gray's Needle Tubes,
now made in Scotland by Grays of Kilsyth, and
available online
in a range of lengths and diameters.
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Lake
Erie steelhead taken on a needle tube fly |
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Spey
sea trout taken on a needle tube fly |
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Gray's Needle Tube Flies
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Blackback needle tube flies |
Scottish Shrimp salmon tube flies |
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The newly developed
Needle Tubes, made from extremely fine
stainless steel tubing, the kind used in
the manufacture of hypodermic needles,
are available with external diameters of 1.5 and 1.8 mm, the thinnest
plastic lined metal tubes ever made for
fly tying, much slimmer than the
plastic, aluminium and copper tubes
traditionally used in the making of tube
flies for salmon, sea trout and
steelhead fishing.
For a selection of
salmon tube flies dressed on Gray's
Needle Tubes, see
salmon tube flies
blackback tube flies and
sea trout tube flies |
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Dressing Gray's Needle Tubes
To dress the
needle tubes, the tube should be secured in our new
Needle Tube Vice
The
tube fly body may be dressed in the normal way or left
undressed to give a simple, very slim silver fly body,
as shown in the examples below.
To
complete the tube fly, a short length of silicone tubing
is then used to connect a hook of appropriate size,
treble, double or single.
If
tube flies longer than 40 mm are required, two tubes may
be joined in tandem by a length of the silicone or PVC
tubing to produce a tube fly of anything up to 8 cms in
length.
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Gray's Needle
Tubes are much finer than
traditional tubes, as shown on the
left. |
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Needle Tube Flies |
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The new
Needle Tubes can be dressed to create a range of tube
flies, from a short and very slim micro tube fly of only
10 mm in length, perhaps for summer grilse in a low
water, through the whole range of 15, 20, 25, 35 and 40
mm tubes, dressed for salmon, steelhead and sea trout
fishing throughout the season. The longer tubes, or a
pair of tubes linked in series, dressed sparsely, make
very attractive sea trout lures, more easily dressed,
more durable and even slimmer than the increasingly
popular (braided nylon) sea trout snake fly.
Being made from fine polished stainless steel, the kind
used in the making of hypodermic needles, needle tube
flies sink more readily than plastic or aluminium tube
flies but fish a little higher, and more attractively,
than the heavier copper and brass tubes. Needle Tube
Flies would have a comparable sink rate and similar slim
profile to flies dressed previously on Waddington
shanks, but with the important benefit that the hook is
easily changed on the needle tube fly. Needle tubes are
also much easier to dress than Waddington or snake
lures. For supplies of fine
silicone and PVC tubing, see:
Tube Fly Tubing
See also the articles
listed in the table to the right |
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Examples
of Needle Tube Flies
Below are some examples of tube flies dressed on
the new Needle Tubes. The first is a simply dressed Spey
Shrimp salmon tube fly dressed in the style
of Ally Gowans's famous Cascade salmon fly. The second
is a simple needle tube fly with an outside diameter of
only 1.5 mm, similar and profile to a snake fly but more
easily made, intended primarily for late night
sea trout fishing. In both examples, the bare silver
shank of the stainless steel tubes have been left
undressed to produce the slimmest possible bodies.
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More
examples of tube flies dressed on
Gray's Needle Tubes |
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Being made from fine polished stainless steel, the kind
used in the making of hypodermic needles, needle tube
flies sink more readily than plastic or aluminium tube
flies but fish a little less deeply, and perhaps more
attractively, than the heavier
copper and brass tubes. Needle
Tube Flies compare in weight and
profile to flies dressed on Waddington
shanks, but with the important benefit that the hook is
easily changed on the needle tube fly. Needle tubes are
also much easier to dress than Waddington or snake
lures.
The tube flies below include variants of
Ally Gowans's famous Ally's Shrimp and Cascade salmon
flies, dressed on Grays needle tubes. In addition to the
Cascade needle tube fly and Ally's Shrimp, I have shown
a Highland Cascade tube fly, a Fiery Cascade, a Red
Cascade, a couple of Balckback Needle Tube Flies, a
Silver Stoat tube fly and variants of the Garry and
Willie Gunn, all dressed on slim stainless steel needle
tubes. |
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click on images to enlarge |
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For more information, or to buy some of the new fly
tying tubes, see
Gray's Needle Tubes |
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Tube Flies |
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