Published Feb 1. 2000 - 24 years ago
Updated or edited Mar 11. 2023

Tube Muddler

A great looking tube fly


Tube Muddler  

Materials:

Tube Plastic fly tube or tube from cotton swab
Thread Black or brown
Tag Narrow flat gold tinsel
Tails Two yellow golden phesant body feathers
Body Black Arctic fox dubbing
Veilings Four yellow golden phesant body feathers
Wing Black Arctic fox
Head/collar Natural deer hair

Tying instructions:

  • Prepare a tube, length approx. 1.5" or 4 centimeters
  • If you use a cotton swab, cut off the cotton and melt carefully to form a collar in each end of the tube (7 on the drawing below)
  • Tie in the flat gold tinsel approx. one fifth of the tube length from the rear end of the tube
  • Wind the tinsel backwards to cover half of this space and forwards again leaving a small piece of the tube uncovered (4 on the drawing below)
  • Prepare two yellow golden phesant body feathers by removing the webby part leaving only the regular, even barbs
  • Moisten the feather and pull the barbs parallel to the stem of the feather
  • Tie in the feather with the shiny side up by laying two loose turns of thread over the stem just behind the first barbs
  • Hold the feather flat in regard to the hook and pull slowly on the stem while guiding the barbs to a small, even tuft (2 on the drawing below)
  • Unwind one wrap, pull the thread tight in an upwards motion and tie the feather down with two more tight wraps
  • Repeat the process for the opposite side
  • Divide the rest of the body into five parts
  • Dub the first fifth with a thin layer of black dubbing
  • Tie in two more feathers as described above
  • Dub the next fifth
  • Tie in two more feathers
  • Dub the next fifth
  • Tie in a sparse wing of Arctic fox on each side of the tube (1 on the drawing below)
  • Stack a bunch of deer hair and tie in to form a collar (6 on the drawing below)
  • Tie in more deer hair to form a large and dense head
  • Whipfinish in front of the head and varnish
  • Trim deer hair to form a short head
  • Mount the hook on the tube by drawing a piece of silicone tubing over the bare piece of tube in the rear (3 on the drawing below)
  • Use a treble or single hook according to taste and moral

 


Tube Muddler construction
1: Arctic fox wing
2: Pheasant body tail and veilings
3: Silicone tube
4: Tinsel tag
5: Dubbing sections
6: Deer hair collar
7: Tube collar

Sections: 

Comments

Hi I put this on a ...

Hi
I put this on a copper tube, used materials that I had available and ended up with a great small mouth bass fly.
Little ones cann't handle it so it works swell for bigger bass in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Thanks for the pattern
Paul

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