Any Experience Tying Tube Flies For Trout?

[HighPlainsFlyFisher]

Just wondered if anyone on the board has tied any tube flies? I've been contemplating getting an attachment for my vise and trying my hand at tying some streamers for trout on small tubes. Curious as to how difficult it is and whether the end result will perform any better than my current streamer patterns. Thanks for any advice.....Jeff

http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

[flytyer57]

Just wondered if anyone on the board has tied any tube flies? I've been contemplating getting an attachment for my vise and trying my hand at tying some streamers for trout on small tubes. Curious as to how difficult it is and whether the end result will perform any better than my current streamer patterns. Thanks for any advice.....Jeff

http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

I've tied tube flies for steelhead/salmon and for smallmouth. I use the HMH adapter in my Renzetti vise.

It's really no different than tying on a hook. The tube will give your flies a greater diameter than a bare hook which I like for tying crayfish patterns for smallmouth.

I've seen where people have actually tied dry flies on tubes. Not sure why though. For streamers, tubes should work great. You can tie them in the round or in a standard wing over pattern. Some patterns may spin on a tube though. Experiment with each pattern and adjust as needed. For weight, add a cone to the front of the tube.

If you Google tube flies, you can find all kinds of patterns and tips for tying them.

[HighPlainsFlyFisher]

Thanks for the info. I'm really interested in tying larger streamer patterns on the tubes , I find my hook up ratio to be pretty low when I use the larger size 4 and bigger streamers for trout. I'm really hoping that the tube aspect will increase my hookups. I've seen some really cool patterns online that looked like they'd be great for browns in our area. Think I'll order the attachment for the vise and give it a shot, sounds like a good way to spend some time waiting out this winter season.

http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

[Phil Lilley]

There's a guy here locally that ties sculpin pattern tube flies. He buys materials in my shop. He's the only one around here that does for trout that I know of. There used to be a guy that lived on Table Rock that was big into tube flies 10 years ago or more but I haven't heard anything about him for a while.

Thinking about carrying some in the shop... need to do more investigating.

[HighPlainsFlyFisher]

Let us know if you get some in the shop Phil. I would definitely stop by and pick up a few just to check them out. I havn't found any in the local flyshop bins that I frequent and while I know you can order anything online, I really like to see what I'm getting if at all possible. I could use a few patterns for examples while I'm learning to tie my own.

http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/