Tube Flies

[Glenn Parkin]

Good day gentlemen. Hope everyone is well? I have just, this weekend taken an introductory course on tube flies, while I can see some of the benefits of this style I came away thinking it to be a bit of a pain in the butt, is it or was it just my lack of knowledge or maybe the equipment I was using (HMH manderals). I might do some in the bigger sizes for pike & musky, but is the style worth it for the smaller flies.

I look forward to your outlook, knowledge and discussions on this subject

Glenn

[Mike Thomas]

Hi Glenn I use tube flies sometimes but honestly I think that a good streamer is a better fly most times. The tube flies just do not have that enticing movement that a Rabbit or even a hair wing fly has. The tubes of course sink much faster so if you need to get down then they are hard to beat.
All the best.
Mike.

[Martin Joergensen]

Glenn, Mike,

The thing about tubes is not to consider it as a "better" way to tie the flies you usually tie, but to use tubes where it really makes sense.

I personally tie and use tubes for large, light flies where hook weight might be a problem, and for flies where the hook will typically last a lot longer than the materials or the other way round - pike fishing shreds a lot of flies, deep salmon fishing dulls a lot of hooks.

Last but not least, the new compact metal tubes makes it possible to tie a small and heavy fly, where the weight is concentrated exactly in the place you want it.

You might have noticed the large tube fly section here on GFF, where I go much more into depth with this issue:
http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/tube-flies/

PS: regarding movement in the fly: that depends on the materials used, not on a tube or hook choice! I have plenty very enticing flies tied on tubes using zonker strips, marabou or Arctic fox or Finn raccoon hair wings. That works equally well on a tube.

Martin