Warm Water Tube Flies
Written by Jerry Darkes and originally posted in American Angler Magazine
Mention tube flies to most anglers and Atlantic salmon, steelhead, and maybe some saltwater use comes to mind. Tube patterns have been around in west coast fly fishing for many years, but tubes are considered mostly a European thing, especially in Scandinavia and the U.K. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in tube flies in North American. Most of this has centered on fishing steelhead in the Northwest and Great Lakes regions.
As more tube fly patterns are in use and more materials and components have become available, new applications for them are being discovered and developed. One area in the start up phase is in warm water use. Bass, panfish, pike, and musky are prime candidates for creative tube patterns. We are no longer limited to tying on Q Tips, drink stirrers, and Bic pen cartridges. New products have opened the door and creative tiers are stepping in.
Why Tubes?
Several reasons favor the use of tube flies. To start with, a short-shank hook can be employed, even with a long bodied fly. This gives less leverage for a hooked fish to work with than with a long-shank hook. The result is more hooked fish are landed.
A tube fly can be tied much longer than possible with a conventional hook. The tube can be any desired length with materials then attached to it. Eliminating the long hook keeps the fly much lighter and easier to cast.
Next is the ability to interchange hooks on the same fly. If a hook is damaged for some reason, it can be changed without discarding the fly. The hook size or style can be adjusted depending on the conditions or species sought. A fly can be easily adapted for saltwater or freshwater use, just be changing the hook. The angler can also incorporate a dressed hook or a bare hook, providing a maximum amount of versatility from a single pattern style.
Finally, tube flies make it easier to release fish quickly and safely. Many times fish are injured as the angler struggles to save the fly while unhooking a fish. With tubes, the hook can be clipped off and the fish easily release with the fly still intact. With toothy critters, the fly can also be slid up the leader away from wear and tear caused by sharp teeth.
The European Connection
Tube flies originated in Great Britain sometime around 1940. A tube fly is quite simply what is says. A hollow tube of some sort replaces the hook shank. The tippet end of the leader is run through the tube and tied to the hook. The hook can be rigged various ways, but most often it is pulled into back end of the body.
The Scandinavians have had the biggest influence on the development of tube flies. They developed an exquisite style of tying using stacked hair wings that act as a keel and keep the fly swimming straight. The widest variety of tube fly components and materials come from this area. The earliest references to the use of metal tubes with plastic liners are from Sweden and Denmark.
A Russian angler, Juri Shumakov, examined how the shape and weight distribution of tubes affects the way the fly rides in the water and swims. He designed a series of tubes in different shapes made out of aluminum and brass. Michael Frodin and Hakan Norling developed the “FITS” system of plastic tubing and shaped cones, where all the components are sized to fit together. FITS products are distributed in the U.S. by Guideline (www.guidelineflyfish.com). HMH is the main manufacturer of tube fly components in the U.S. and offers a variety of metal and plastic tubes and metal cones (www.hmhvise.com).
All of this was taken to the next level recently when Eumer began manufacturing and packaging tube fly components and materials in Finland. Eumer offers six shapes of machined brass tubes, each in several sizes, and multiple colors. In addition, they have tubing in a variety of sizes and colors all sized to work with their various components. Eumer also offers a full assortment of Finn raccoon, arctic fox, and Australian opossum. The North American website is www.eumertube.com.
The availability of this complete product assortment has opened up a whole new range of creativity in tying tube flies. With all the components and materials available, many conventional patterns can be changed into tube designs and the opportunity to create new patterns is limitless.
The New York Connection
One of the earliest proponents of tube flies for warm water was Tony Pagliei, a creative tier and guide based in East Lansing, Michigan. For a number of years, Pagliei was a lone voice in the wilderness preaching the benefits of tying and fishing tubes around the Midwest. He fishes both steelhead and salmon, but also employs tube flies when fishing the Grand River, right outside of East Lansing for smallmouth bass, pike, walleye, carp, and whatever else might be interested.
Originally from Buffalo, New York, Pagiei makes several pilgrimages a year to the fish-filled waters of his home. He promoted the convertible aspect of tube flies- the idea of mixing and matching fly components to change color and function early on. Working ahead of his time, he released a video titled “Tying ConvertibleTube Flies” in 2002. Tony also owns and runs www.tubeflies.com, a website that is a storehouse of ever expanding information on tying and fishing tubes.
Enter several more western New Yorker’s. Rick Kustich has penned numerous articles and several books about fly fishing- mainly about trout and steelhead. Kustich grew up and still lives about a half-mile from the upper Niagara River on Grand Island. This part of the Niagara is a top-notch warm water fishery, and Kustich’s other fly fishing passion- chasing muskies is well served here and on various other waters close by.
Steve Wascher is a school teacher and guide who lives on the shores of Chautauqua Lake, another well-known fishery. The muskellunge is king here, but a full range of warmwater species call Chatauqua home. Wascher, a true fly tying junkie, has a front door laboratory to experiment in. Like Kustich, he chases musky whenever he can. Both are working with fly designs for these large toothy critters. They are focusing on tubes because of their ability to create and fish a fly much larger than could be done on a conventional hook.
Being based in northern Ohio, my own focus is on steelhead and warm water. Peter Humphreys, the Guideline sales rep, ties beautiful Scandinavian-style patterns for Muskegon River steelhead and gave me several flies to try locally. On a trip to southeast Ohio’s Little Beaver Creek for stream smallmouth, my eyes fell on one of his creations. The combination of olive and chartreuse arctic fox with copper Flashabou screamed “smallmouth!” to me and I was not disappointed. Fish climbed all over that fly.
This experience really fired my interested in tubes for warm water use. Tony Pagliei introduced me to the Eumer folks. Rick Kustich and Steve Wascher had me out several times to fish for and catch muskies with tubes. I was converted into a bonafide tube fanatic. Nearly all of my tying now focuses on tube patterns and I fish them whenever practical. Even Greg Senyo, an Orvis Fly Tyer of the Year, has converted many of his patterns to tubes and is working to create additional patterns for warm water use.
At The Vise
In order to tie a tube fly the tubing is placed onto some sort of metal mandrel or pin to hold it. The mandrel is then placed into the vise. There are dedicated tube vises and also several styles of adapters that will hold the mandrel and then clamp into a regular vise. The mandrel may be a fixed diameter where several different sizes may be needed or can be tapered where the tube is then pushed up the shaft to where it is held in place by pressure.
Many recognized patterns can be easily converted to a tube fly configuration and may be improved on. Using the Woolly Bugger as an example, we take Pagliei’s convertible idea. We can tie bodies on plain plastic tubes. The hook can be dressed in various colors. With 6 bodies and 6 tails, you end up with 36 possible combinations. Substitute arctic fox body for marabou in the tail. This material has as much movement as marabou, but is nearly indestructible when compared to the fragile marabou feather.
The Deep Minnow and Deceiver are other patterns that adapt well to tube configurations. After the main fly is tied, a plain hook or dressed hook can be used. The hook can be stainless for saltwater applications. It can be dressed with saddle hackles, bucktail, a rabbit strip, or any other material you want to use. Use red junction tubing to simulate the gills of an injured baitfish.
Topwater patterns also convert well to tubes. With preformed foam bodies, push a pin through several times to enlarge the opening for a tube. The body tube is then coated with Zap-A-Gap or Super Glue and quickly pushed through. Make the tube a little longer than the body so it can be dressed and accept a junction tube. The hook can again be dressed if desired. Deer hair can also be spun on tubes. Just make sure you are using tubing for tying applications so it does not compress from the pressure of spinning the hair. Tubing that is too soft may not pull off the mandrel or if you get it off, may close up so that the leader can not be put through the tube.
Invertebrate patterns can also be tied on tubes. Pagliei’s TRB can be made to imitate a damsel, stonefly, or larger mayflies nymphs such as Hexagenia species. By changing material colors a lot of different looks can be achieved. Senyo does a Hex nymph and several crayfish patterns.
My two favorite tubes to tie on are Eumer’s Ball Head Tube and Crayfish/Shrimp Tube. The Ball Head Tube can be quickly dressed with a number of various materials and swim tank tests show this tube generates a small wobble when stripped or swung in current.
The Ball Tube is a great introduction to tying tubes. It serves as the tying platform and also gives both color and weight to the fly. Just tie on a rabbit strip Zonker-style and you are ready to fish. You can also add different materials at the head to create a variety of looks. I call this the Ball Head Bunny.
Another very versatile pattern is the Deep Creeper. It is tied on the Eumer Shrimp/Crayfish Tube. Again, the tube is the body and provides both color and weight. Grooves on the tube function as tie down points. This pattern has only two materials on it, a rabbit strip and Sili Legs. Depending on color,it can imitate a crayfish, a leech, a sculpin, a tadpole, or who knows what. All I know is that it catches fish! It gets eaten on the fall as well as when stripped. When you drop one in the water you’ll see why.
Another way to add additional weight and motion into tube patterns is through the use of Monster or Turbo cones. These thin metal discs are added to the front of the fly just before tying is finished. Their cupped shape creates a current vortex behind the cone, giving any soft materials additional movement. The shape also gives a slight wobble to the fly.
Both Kustich and Wascher recognize the value of tube flies for large toothy predators and these are the only types of flies they use to target them. By tying on tubes, a long- bodied fly can be created with hook toward the rear of the fly instead of the head. They incorporate materials with a lot of movement and minimal water absorption, making them easier to cast.
On the Water
A tube fly is generally rigged to fish by threading the leader through the tube, tying on the hook and pulling the eye of the hook back into the larger diameter junction tubing to hold it in place. When a fish is hooked the fly will often pull away, allowing the fish to be quickly and easily unhooked. I use a Daiichi 1640 in size 2 for general fishing. This hook holds well and is easily removed.
Other hooks are certainly usable. The most important thing is that it has a relatively short shank and a fairly straight eye so it holds straight behind the fly. If a heavier longer, hook is desired, the Daiichi 2450 is my first choice. Many bait hooks also work well and if you end up chasing bigger fish, you may need to go this route in order to get the size and strength you need. I like the Gamakatu Wide Gap Finesse Hook for surface bass bugs. For mega fish like muskies, a super-strong cutting point hook should be used.
If you are fishing longer flies and up getting short strikes, there is a remedy for this. The hook can be easily rigged “stinger” style so that it rides back behind the body. To do this, after the leader is run through the body, the hooked tied into a loop (you determine the length) and the knot is then pulled back in the junction tubing and seated in the body tube. The hook rigged this way rarely tangles with the wing of the fly.
Michigan guides Ray Schmidt and Jay Niederstadt have taken this idea a step further to fish the wood filled rivers they work on. Here the leader is tied to a small barrel swivel that is pulled back into the junction tube. The hook is attached to the barrel swivel with a short length of tippet that will break before the main leader. The hook can be left trailing back or a piece of 1/8” surgical tubing can be slipped over the junction tube and the hook pushed into it. If the hook gets snagged, it can be broken off, saving the fly- Brilliant!
They call this the “Fearless Fly” system and detailed photographs showing how to rig this can be found at www.schmidtoutfitters.com.
For toothy fish like musky and pike, a bite tippet has to be used. There are various types of wire that can be knotted to the leader and the fly. The wire tends to kink in front of the tube, and may need to be retied several times during a days fishing. 40 to 60 pound test fluorocarbon seems to work better and is less visible in clear water. A Uni Knot can be used to attach a length of this to the leader and then a three turn Clinch Knot or Homer Rhode Loop Knot to connect the fly. Check the flora every time a fish is hooked and replace if there are any nicks in it.
Beyond the numerous practical advantages to fishing tube flies, new patterns can be created from all the materials and components now available. We can design flies to target a wide variety of fish in nearly any situation. From nymphs to super-sized patterns for apex predators, tube patterns can be employed. So far, we have barely scratched the surface in applications for warm water fisheries. For both the angler and fly tier, warm water tubing doesn’t mean jumping into the backyard pool anymore.
