Steelhead Tingler Tube Flies
The “Tingler” is simply a tube fly, more specifically a slim stainless steel Needle Tube, armed with a lightly dressed single hook ( see Tingler Tube Fly ) It was first devised as a lightweight, simply dressed lure for night time sea trout fishing but might be adapted for any predatory fish such as Atlantic or Pacific salmon, steelhead or sea bass. The small selection of Tinglers shown here were dressed with steelhead in mind but they might be fished successfully for other species such as pacific salmon, or the size, weight and dressing might be varied according to species, season and circumstance.
Dressed on 20mm long Needle Tubes, outside diameter 1.5mm, the lures shown above are similar in weight to a fly dressed on a Waddington shank of the same length and would fish at a similar depth. The benefit of the Tingler, or indeed flies dressed on tubes in general, is that the hook can be easily attached, replaced or changed when required. A further benefit of applying a light dressing to the single hook is that the appearance of the lure might be altered, sometimes quite dramatically, by changing to a hook of a different colour dressing. For example, if we dress four tubes and four hooks with different colours, as in those illustrated below, by interchanging tubes and hooks we might create sixteen different colour combinations. A further four flies would be available by arming the tubes with undressed hooks, giving the fisherman, in effect, a choice of twenty different flies.
The dressing of both tube and hook can be as simple or as complex as the tyer desires. The possibilities are limited only by the tyer’s imagination! The hooks illustrated here are Size 6 Partridge Saltwater Perfect. Another nice hook with similar proportions is the Gamakatsu G-CODE F31. For the Tingler, I like a hook with a total hook length (from eye to bend of hook) approximately three times the gape width. A few very simple Tinglers are shown below.
New Tail – New Fly
The Tingler hook can be readily changed for another in a different coloured dressing to create a fly with a radically different look.
