Tube Fly Materials

[eastern fly 0]

I want to tye more tube flies. What "system" or company do you like to us? I do like the look and action of the soft cone heads. Also how many of you use tubes that don't use a spey rod to swing flies?

 

Kevin

[Dave G. 0]

I started out buying into the HMH system and so have just carried on with that. I use the adapter when traveling now, it had been my main method initially till I bought the tube fly vise. HMH now makes a new adapter chuck that fits a regular vise but has the chuck system of their tube fly vise. These days I'd have just bought that from the get go and be done with it. But anyway, that's the thing of it, once you start down the path with one brand ,might just as well stick with it.

 

I cast Gray and Green Ghost streamers on both single and double handed rods. No reason not to. I use poly tubes, conventional plastic tubes with cone and also metal tubes fwiw (long copper tubes are more the realm of a 6 or 7 wt rod though imo, shorter ones on a 5 wt are ok). I use junction tube to the hook ( some folks don't bother and they have their own reasons as to why) A Gray Ghost streamer tied on a plastic tube wants to float if you don't use a cone or bead. One tied on a copper tube will have a pretty fast sink rate but you also feel it in the cast, aluminum tubes are in between. The Ghost series flies have several steps in the pattern with layers of somewhat delicate feathers that a few salmon will tear up. Tying them on tubes has two advantages: 1 when a fish takes it, the fly ends up sliding up the line helping to preserve the fly for considerably more casts and fish. 2 you have the fish now on a good stout short shanked hook that is harder for the fish to toss than an 8 or 10x long streamer hook is. Ghosts are the main reason I got into tube flies but not all I tie on tubes either. Tubes just open up another avenue in my tying and I do see those two advantages. Also the thicker body shows the fish something slightly different from the standard. They seem to work very well at any rate for what ever reason the fish is seeing in them..

[Meeshka 0]

The Canadian Tube Fly Company web page is a great source for materials and information. I rarely use a spey rod as I just never got comfortable with one, and practiced very little with one. My preference is and 8 or 10 wt 9 foot - a disadvantage though if you are casting single handed all day you can get a bit sore and I just can't get out as far or as long as a swing as a person can with a spey.

[stabgnid 0]

The Canadian Tube Fly Company is a place for great material & information shipping is a little slow because there in Canada about 2 weeks at the longest I have got things a lot sooner sometimes . They stand by there product I got some bad feathers from them sent picture and they replaced them and sent an extra pack to boot..

Steve-stabgnid

 

The Canadian Tube Fly Company

http://www.canadiantubeflies.com/index.html

[Dave G. 0]

The Canadian Tube Fly Company web page is a great source for materials and information. I rarely use a spey rod as I just never got comfortable with one, and practiced very little with one. My preference is and 8 or 10 wt 9 foot - a disadvantage though if you are casting single handed all day you can get a bit sore and I just can't get out as far or as long as a swing as a person can with a spey.

Meeshka, maybe visit some you tube and web sites about single handed spey casting and the related lines for doing it. I don't think you will be sorry you tried it compared to two handed casting.

[Meeshka 0]

Dave,

Got a book on single handed spey casting last christmas - read it, but haven't tried it. But I will take your advice

[Dave G. 0]

Dave,

Got a book on single handed spey casting last christmas - read it, but haven't tried it. But I will take your advice

I gotta tell you I went to Maine two weeks ago with my old 8-1/2 ft 6/7 rod and an OPST Commando head rig that I use on an 11-1/2 ft 4/5 switch rod. Single handed casting with that old St Coix 6/7 I was casting 80 ft right up next to back cover, fishing spots I could never cast like that in with conventional back casting. With single handed heads you bump up two rod wts from what ever the line was used on in two handed in the OPST line up. So it worked perfectly for me ( 250 grain head and 10ft of T8 tip, 5ft leader). But you gotta put the whole rig on, OPST has charts as to line and tips and leaders . I think Rio does as well and Airflow too.. They're all coming out with these single handed spey lines but I only have experience with OPST and to a much lesser degree with Wulff..

[chugbug27 0]

(mistaken hijack, deleted)

[Dave G. 0]

All my tube fly parts have been purchased at Bears Den in Taunton Ma. It's a 40 minute drive for me when traffic is good so I can see in person what I'm buying. They stock a decent enough selection of HMH or ProTube supplies and some generic cones and stuff as well. Sufficient for my needs anyway. Feathers and other materials are same as traditional ties for me and that stuff has been accumulated over decades. What I do buy I buy from Bears Den or J Stockard .

 

I'm going to be 69 next April so any necks I buy lately are half necks in Metz grade 2 mostly. Again sufficient for my needs. JStockard runs a neck and cape sale or a Metz sale each summer, usually in July, that's when I buy if I need that sort of thing. Just sayin, not that it's specific to tube flies but some of the outer end feathers make decent enough streamer feathers for me.

[fishinguy 0]

I use a j stockard universal tube a adaptor, straws from aerosol cans (like wd40), and lawn mower fuel line for junction tubes. I don't tie or fish allot of them but I'm in the game for just the price of the adapter.

[Meeshka 0]

Way back in the day, and I'm talking 50 plus years ago my uncle used the insulation from copper wire for the tubes and different colored nylon rope for the wings. I was too young (they thought so ) to go out for coho with them so it was my job to scour the beach for rope. I'll post a picture if I can find one in dads old box

[eastern fly 0]

The Canadian Tube Fly Company is a place for great material & information shipping is a little slow because there in Canada about 2 weeks at the longest I have got things a lot sooner sometimes . They stand by there product I got some bad feathers from them sent picture and they replaced them and sent an extra pack to boot..

Steve-stabgnid

 

The Canadian Tube Fly Company

http://www.canadiantubeflies.com/index.html

I have gotten stuff from them before. I'm also looking for other places people like.

 

Kevin

[Dave G. 0]

I think the Canadian operation has more than you will find much of anywhere else. I mean Bears Den has a 6ft turn style type rack full of the stuff but that's about it ( though they have a store full of tying materials and just stuff in general of all sorts). They stock three or four vises for tubes. But as i said before it's sufficient for my needs. And then there is the thought of how much do you really need anyway when tying tube flies. You're just tying materials on a tube vs a hook basically. Once you have a means of supporting the tube while tying and the tubes themselves it's kind of it, add a few cones and beads, good to go.