This page does not deal with the patterns of tube flies but more of the technichal aspects. If you are looking for patterns try here

The tube fly has been around for quite awhile and now is thier demands are growing in the PNW, why, well they allow many adavantage where standard flies tied on hooks don't even start to compare. Here is a list of the reasons why fishermen choose to use tube-flies:

• They allows the hook to come free from the fly when a fish in hooked.
• They allow one to use a small (#1,2 or 4) hook with a large fly, hence limiting injury to the fish.
• A short shank hook has a better chance of the fish being banked.
• Tube flies can be stored without hooks, preventing injury.
• They allows combinations of different bodies to be put together.
• They allows the FF to choose the hook to the envioment.
• If a hook breaks or bends allows to change the hook without changing the fly.
• A tube can be cut in different lengths for a multitude of patterns.
• A tube puts the hook where the fish strike, and keeps the hook from fouling.

Here are two examples of a tube fly setup. one is without a hook holder and the other with. I perfer the second, it keeps the hook why you wanted it, raising the chances of hook-up.

Using weight with tube flies is also easy, there three mainstream ways; first being by wraping lead around the tube, second is by using a piece of metal tubing over the platic and the last is using a bead head. The other great part about a tube fly is that you can change the weight by changing the hook. These are crude repesentations but bring the point across on how to assemble a weighted tube fly.

You can find many pre-manufactured tubes, from lined copper tubing to unlined brass. The Loop company creates a tubed named "bottle tube" which is pictured below.

You only could imagine how fast thoose sink. Pesonally I choose to use the first or second method when wieghting a tube. But no weight at all is always best in puget sound rivers where fish count is low.

So lets go a little deeper into other materials one can use when tying a tube fly.

The above is whats called a Eppendorf Micropipette tip, used in labs every where, and starting to be fished everywhere too. Thanks to a article (click here to see it) by Jurij Shumakov, a Swedish fly tyer whos tube flies are some of the best works of art in the world. The pipette comes in a diverse range of sizes and shapes ( www.etips.com ) and are manufacted mainly by a company named Eppendorf. Price ranges from a medium size, 1000cnt. for about $50.00, this is not bad for 1000 flies. What you do is clip the font off to where you line will pass through, the taper will allow for a small head. and the back will hold most striaght eye hooks.