SALMON - TUBE FLIES

Salmon Tube Flies

Tube flies have been in use for salmon fishing, in Europe for Atlantic salmon and in North America for Pacific salmon and steelhead, for many decades. They have also proven popular for sea trout night fishing. Recent years have seen the development of a wide range of tubes made in a variety of sizes and shapes, from a whole range of materials, including various plastics, aluminium, brass, copper, stainless steel and tungsten, together with additional components such as beads, coneheads, turbo discs, spinheads, swing tubes, knot guards, diving vanes and skullheads, to name but a few.

A whole range of salmon flies, in a variety of styles, weights and lengths, may be simply dressed on stainless steel needle tubes, e.g. long-tailed Scottish Shrimps (such as the variants of Ally’s Shrimp and Cascade illustrated below) Irish Shrimps (see Bann Special and Curry’s Red Shrimp variants below), Willie Gunns, mini tubes or long winged Scandinavian style flies. The stainless steel needle tube is just one of many modern alternatives ( varying in shape, weight, density, length and colour) available to the tube fly tyer. The needle tube, being made from fine stainless steel tubing (the kind used in hypodermic needles), lies between copper and aluminium in density. It will therefore sink more slowly and less deeply than copper but more quickly and more deeply than aluminium. The slim diameter of the needle tube creates a lighter tube, more easily cast than the thicker, heavier copper nd brass tubes. The silver stainless steel body can also be left undressed , making them very simple to dress. A few salmon tube fly examples are shown below.

Black and Orange Intruder Tube Fly — Black & Orange Intruder Tube Fly

Black Hackle Intruder Needle Tube Fly — Black Hackle Intruder Tube Fly

Gory Mini Intruder Tube Fly — Gory Mini Intruder

Black and Orange Mini Intruder Tube Fly — Black & Orange Mini Intruder

Willie Gunn Salmon Tube Fly — Willie Gunn Variant dressed on a Needle Tube

Wee Monkey Salmon Needle Tube Fly — Wee Monkey Needle Tube Fly

Irish Shrimp Salmon Needle Tube Fly — Curry’s Red Shrimp Variant dressed on a Needle Tube

Bann Special Irish Shrimp Tube Fly — Bann Special Variant on a Needle Tube

Cascade Salmon Tube Fly — Cascade Needle Tube Fly

Ally's Shrimp Salmon Needle Tube Fly — Ally’s Shrimp Needle Tube Fly

Silver Stoat Salmon Needle Tube Fly — Silver Stoat Needle Tube Fly

Munro Shrimp Tube Fly — Munro Shrimp Needle Tube Fly

Yelly Belly Scottish Shrimp — Scottish Shrimp Needle Tube Fly

Yelly Belly Scottish Shrimp Needle Tube Fly

For more about Needle Tubes and Needle Tube Flies, see Needle Tubes