Marty
05-23-2008, 11:27 PM
I have been playing around with tubes for a number of years now and have found that they are not only fun to tie on but are highly effective. I now tie all of my streamers, Stillwater patterns and most of my big dries on tubes. Here are some of the advantages of tying on tubes.
With tubes you can tie flies that have neutral buoyancy to mega sink. There is no need to add lead wraps to get your fly to sink faster. I use plastic, aluminum, brass and copper for tubing. Each sinks at a different rate making it possible to cover any depth. Adding a cone or bead at the head will all so add to the sink rate and to the action of the fly. Tube flies are easy to cast. I am not sure why, maybe because of the weight. With the system I have been using I rarely lose flies. Either the hook will break or the tippet will fail at the eye of the fly. They are fun to tie and its fun to do something a little differant.
I took some step by steps shots to give you a close up view of the system,
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/martyoh/tubefly.jpg
To tie the fly on I run the tippet up through the eye of the fly, then back down through the eye of the fly leavening a loop. I then move the loop over the bend of the hook and pull tight. I then tie a triple surgeons knot with the doubled tippet, leaving the knot about a inch from the eye of the hook. If I am using a fly with a long tail I will make the loop longer. I like to have the knot right at the end of the fly.
With tubes you can tie flies that have neutral buoyancy to mega sink. There is no need to add lead wraps to get your fly to sink faster. I use plastic, aluminum, brass and copper for tubing. Each sinks at a different rate making it possible to cover any depth. Adding a cone or bead at the head will all so add to the sink rate and to the action of the fly. Tube flies are easy to cast. I am not sure why, maybe because of the weight. With the system I have been using I rarely lose flies. Either the hook will break or the tippet will fail at the eye of the fly. They are fun to tie and its fun to do something a little differant.
I took some step by steps shots to give you a close up view of the system,
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/martyoh/tubefly.jpg
To tie the fly on I run the tippet up through the eye of the fly, then back down through the eye of the fly leavening a loop. I then move the loop over the bend of the hook and pull tight. I then tie a triple surgeons knot with the doubled tippet, leaving the knot about a inch from the eye of the hook. If I am using a fly with a long tail I will make the loop longer. I like to have the knot right at the end of the fly.