Published Feb 7. 2008 - 16 years ago
Updated or edited Aug 8. 2015

Tube Flies

Hi, the recent series on tying tube flies has given me some ideas about useing tube flies on the Tongariro river, but no one in NZ stocks tube flies or the bits needed to tie them.
So does anyone know a reliable source that would ship to N.Z.?
Thanks for your help.
Mike.

Pete Gray's picture

HMH...

G'Day Mike...
These folks supply my needs...
Their premium tube tool is the finest I've seen/used...
They ship internationally and do a good job at customer service...
Google HMH Vises or adjust the info below to see the site...
www . hmhvises . com/premiumtubes

petegray

Pete Gray's picture

HMH...

There are options that, I'm sure, will be shared by other kind members.
Good tools just make things easier and more enjoyable...
You can [i:eff641197b]never[/i:eff641197b] have [i:eff641197b]too many [/i:eff641197b]"[u:eff641197b]good tools[/u:eff641197b]"!
Tubes are an interesting and effective alternative...
No worries...Have fun and knock yourself out!
BTW
My favourite local shop and another source worth looking into:
International order friendly... www . bearsden . com

petegray

Stirrer Straws...

I'm a cheap-skate, so I'll offer a good "poor man's solution" or two:

A 'normal' fly vise can be converted to a makeshift tube vise by taking some thick (12 gauge) wire from any hardware store and making a candy-cane looking loop out of it. Once you have that, you can slide the tube on the longer leg, up to the bend in the "candy cane", and then take a piece of closed- cell foam, folded in half, and double- pierce the foam with the cane and slide the foam to the back end of the tube to hold it in place. It's easier in pictures than words, but hopefully this makes sense... You want rigid wire, but not so thick as to damage the vise jaws.

Another "poor man's solution" is to use round coffee stirrer straws in place of the tubes. They're almost the same exact diameter tubing as the (price hiked) fly store tubing, and are a fraction of the price. Only downside I've found so far is the color selection, and really, one need not worry that much on that, as you're often covering much of the tube with the tying offerings.

Just my 2 cents worth,
Pete

Thanks guys, I will keep you...

Thanks guys, I will keep you posted how I go this winter on the Tongariro with some tube flies I have bought from an online shop.
I have only used the spey rod for nymphing so far and have had some good results. I am even slowly getting the hang of the double spey cast!
Thanks.
Mike.

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