Tube fly tubing questions

[LisaLou 0]

There are all kinds of systems out there, it’s mind boggling.  I do have many crafting supplies on hand already and would like to graduate up from brittle q tips to some tubing I already have.  It’s silicone 2mm OD and 1mm ID, very soft and flexible and available in many colors.  It does melt, so I can roll a lip with a lighter.

I see in videos and products that most plastic tubes are somewhat rigid.  Is there some reason that a soft tube can not be tied on?  I did see some softer tubes being sold at Canadian Tube Flies and was wondering if anyone has used it for the body.  It looks just like my pony bead lacing tubing, which I already have.  I’ve tied a few flies on the bead lacing and they seem okay.  I find it very easy to tie on and work with.  The body is flexible, but I’m not sure if that is good or bad.  Seems more lifelike maybe?  
Anyhow, I don’t want to invest my time in tying on very soft tubing if there is a compelling reason not to.  I just can’t see a downside and was hoping someone else has tried to tie on soft tubing and could advise me. (The only problem I had was tying too tightly, so it was squished down onto the mandrel and tough to slide off when I was done.)

https://www.canadiantubeflies.com/tube-fly-tying-flex-tubes.html

thanks, LisaLou

[FIN-ITE 34 0]

With flexible, tie too tight and you loose your ID. Tie too loose and your thread wraps come undone. That's why you need a rigid tube, so your thread wraps can be tied as tightly as you would on a hook.

[flytire 0]

do you use junction tubing?

Rigging a Tube Fly (canadiantubeflies.com)

[LisaLou 0]

Because it’s flexible, my understanding is a junction tubing is not needed, unless the eye of the hook and knot was quite large (or preferred).  I am using a  pin slightly small than the tube ID of 1mm.  I slightly compress the tube a touch during first wraps.  it  pinches the back enough so the hook stops where the wraps start.  At least with a size 14 firehole and some other random hooks I have tried.  The link I posted to Canadian tube Flies Flex Tube mentions junction tube may not be needed.  I think it’s probably more “plastic-like” than the pure silicone tubing I have.  I have seen videos of people heating the end slightly and then inserting the hook so the end forms a more oval shape to hold the hook for the flex tube. 

 

p.s. ……
upon looking further into the CTF site, I think I have Wiggle tubing, or very similar to it.  I think I will try and do as instructed there for a couple flies.  It looks like fun and I believe I got the same stuff commonly called pony bead lacing (some is solid and some a tube.  At a glance, the packaging with the tube style lacing will include some pegs to connect the tube into a necklace.  The solid cord style will obviously not.)

https://www.canadiantubeflies.com/tube-fly-tying-wiggle-tubes.html

i do get the physics of too loose or too tight or wraps because I am not tying on a rigid object.  I did not think of that as a possible issue.   I think because I lucked out and happened to use a a pin very slightly smaller than the tube, I have not experienced those issues……yet.  It simply was not on my radar that the wraps could get wonky since the tube seems pretty rigid once on the pin.  Another thing is silicone is really grippy.  There is no sliding anything anywhere on the first layer of wraps, even my slippery metallic threads grip nicely.  I also am tying in hand about half the time and as a matter of habit use half hitches liberally, whether in vise or in hand.  I have not had a fly unravel so far and have not overly struggled to slide the finished fly from the pin.  But I will try a qtip for the suggested wiggle worm set up and see how that goes.  I feel like this 2mm OD silicone is smaller and more comfortable for me to tie on than a qtip.  It's funny, because I'd have to pull out a micrometer to find the difference between the tubing and a qtip.  Weird,. Anyhow, I hope this stuff works out to be durable and usable because I like it a lot.  It glows under UV, too.  I have a couple experiments to try, now that I know too much flex might cause my wraps to shift once the fly is whipping around in the wild and not parked on a rigid mandrel.  I could coat it with resin I suppose, but now we are getting weighty.  thanks for the help and things to think about, LL

pps, I think they would make for some really killer earrings, if not durable enough for fishing.  Lots of flair with little weight.  I was a teen in the 1980's and feather earrings were very popular.  We thought we were really hot stuff, trying to look like Stevie Nicks and her boho gypsy look.