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Tube Flies

Fine Fly Tubes for Salmon and Sea Trout Fishing

Grays Needle Tubes

Developed and introduced in 2008, Grays Needle Tubes, made from extremely thin polished stainless steel tubing, are the finest plastic lined metal tubes ever made for fly tying, allowing the fly tier to make very slim sea trout, steelhead and salmon tube flies.

Grays Needle Tube Flies

needle tube fly

see  Sea Trout Tube Flies

Grays Needle Tube Flies

Grays Needle Tubes

Slim tube flies for salmon, steelhead and sea trout tube fly fishing

The tube fly has long been a favourite among fly tyers. Tubes in a variety of materials, such as plastic, aluminium, copper and brass, have, for many years, allowed flytyers to make tube flies, for salmon, steelhead and sea trout fly fishing, in a useful range of lengths and weights to suit most fishing conditions. Another great advantage of the tube fly is its durability, as the hook, whether single, double or treble, can be easily replaced when damaged.

I have always been a great fan of very slimline fly bodies, particularly for sea trout fishing at night but also for salmon fishing. For many years now, I have used needle flies, the slimmest of all flies. I subsequently collaborated with Dave Wallbridge in developing micro tube flies, undoubtedly the thinnest metal tube fly ever devised. More recent online discussions - internet fishing forums are a great stimulus to innovation - led to renewed efforts to produce slim stainless steel fly tying tubes with a traditional plastic liner, with a view to making them available to fly tyers worldwide. This resulted in a newly developed range of Gray's Needle Tubes, made in Scotland by Grays of Kilsyth, and available online in a range of lengths and diameters.

Tying Tube Flies

A few examples of salmon and sea trout tube flies dressed on fine stainless steel Needle Tubes

Salmon Tube Fly

Fiery Shrimp Salmon Tube Fly

Sea Trout Tube Fly

Tube Fly Tying - Salmon Tube Fly

Snake Tube Fly

Willie Gunn salmon tube fly

Black & Yellow Tube Fly

Irish Shrimp Tube Fly

Snake Fly Tube

Ruddy Buck Salmon Tube Fly

Badger and Yellow Needle Tube Fly

Beltra Badger Salmon Tube Fly

For more information on tube fly tying, with special reference to tying tube flies for salmon and sea trout on the ultra slim stainless steel Needle Tubes, developed and manufactured by Grays of Kilsyth in Scotland, see the following pages linking to illustrated step-by-step articles on tying tube flies.

Salmon Fly Tying

Sea Trout Fly Tying

Blackback Tube Flies

Needle Tube Flies

The new Needle Tubes can be dressed to create a wide range of tube flies, from a short and very slim micro tube fly of only 10 mm in length, perhaps for summer grilse in a low water, through the whole range of 15, 20, 25, 35 and 40 mm tubes, dressed for salmon, steelhead and sea trout fishing throughout the season. The longer tubes, or a pair of tubes linked in series, dressed sparsely, make very attractive sea trout lures, more easily dressed, more durable and even slimmer than the increasingly popular (braided nylon) sea trout snake fly. Being made from fine polished stainless steel, the kind used in the making of hypodermic needles, needle tube flies sink more readily than plastic or aluminium tube flies but fish a little higher, and more attractively, than the heavier copper and brass tubes. Needle Tube Flies would have a comparable sink rate and similar slim profile to flies dressed previously on Waddington shanks, but with the important benefit that the hook is easily changed on the needle tube fly. Needle tubes are also much easier to dress than Waddington or snake lures.

The shorter needle tubes, of 10 to 25 mm in length, are well suited also to the modern style of long winged/tailed fly and make a good alternative to bottle tubes and the like, the 1.8mm diameter needle tubes having a bit more weight than the 1.5mm tubes.

The Spring Green Salmon Tube Fly

For supplies of fine silicone and PVC tubing, see: Tube Fly Tubing

 

Beltra Badger Tube Flies

Beltra Badger Tube Flies

Fiery Shrimp Tube Flies

Fiery Shrimp Tube Flies

Willie Gunn Needle Tube Fly

Willie Gunn Needle Tube Fly

Spring Salmon Tube Fly

Black & Yellow Needle Tube Fly

Snake Tube Flies

Snake Tube Flies

Needle Tube Flies

Salmon Needle Tube Flies

Summer Shrimp Tube Flies

Summer Shrimp Tube Flies

Mini Tube Flies

Mini Tube Flies

BOOK - Sea Trout Nights

   

 

Steelhead taken on Needle Tube Fly

Lake Erie steelhead taken on a needle tube fly

Sea Trout Taken on a needle tube fly

Spey sea trout taken on a needle tube fly

 

New Needle Tube Flies win international acclaim - spectacular sport with Atlantic salmon, steelhead and sea trout ........ read more

 

Spring Tube Flies

Spring Tube Selection

 

Sea Trout Needle Tube Fly

Sea Trout Needle Tube Fly

The newly developed Needle Tubes, made from extremely fine stainless steel tubing, the kind used in the manufacture of hypodermic needles, are available with external diameters of 1.5 and 1.8 mm, the thinnest plastic lined metal tubes ever made for fly tying, much slimmer than the plastic, aluminium and copper tubes traditionally used in the making of tube flies for salmon, sea trout and steelhead fishing.

Gray's Needle Tubes

Gray's Needle Tubes

Cooper tube and needle tube

Gray's Needle Tubes are much finer than traditional tubes, as shown by this comparison of a conventional copper tube of about 3mm diameter and a stainless steel needle tube of 1.5mm diameter.

 

Dressing Gray's Needle Tubes

To dress the needle tubes, the tube should be secured in a suitable Tube Fly Vice , which can be simply and quickly fitted to any standard fly tying vice.

The tube fly body may be dressed in the normal way or left undressed to give a simple, very slim silver fly body, as shown in the examples below.

To complete the tube fly, a short length of silicone tubing is then used to connect a hook of appropriate size, treble, double or single.

If tube flies longer than 40 mm are required, two tubes may be joined in tandem by a length of the silicone or PVC tubing to produce a tube fly of anything up to 8 cms in length.

 HMH Tube Fly Vice Adapter

HMH Tube Vice Adapter

 

 

More Needle Tube Flies

Below are some more examples of tube flies dressed on the new Needle Tubes. The first is a simply dressed Spey Shrimp salmon tube fly dressed in the style of Ally Gowans's famous Cascade salmon fly. The second is a simple needle tube fly with an outside diameter of only 1.5 mm, similar and profile to a snake fly but more easily made, intended primarily for late night sea trout fishing. In both examples, the bare silver shank of the stainless steel tubes have been left undressed to produce the slimmest possible bodies.

 

Scottish Shrimp Needle Tube Fly

Spey Shrimp Tube Fly

step by step tying guide

 

Sea Trout Needle Tube Fly

Sea Trout Needle Tube Fly

step by step tying guide

 

Night Tube Flies

Night Tube Flies for Sea Trout

Being made from fine polished stainless steel, the kind used in the making of hypodermic needles, needle tube flies sink more readily than plastic or aluminium tube flies but fish a little less deeply, and perhaps more attractively, than the heavier copper and brass tubes. Needle Tube Flies compare in weight and profile to flies dressed on Waddington shanks, but with the important benefit that the hook is easily changed on the needle tube fly. Needle tubes are also much easier to dress than Waddington or snake lures.

The tube flies below include variants of Ally Gowans's famous Ally's Shrimp and Cascade salmon flies, dressed on Grays needle tubes. In addition to the Cascade needle tube fly and Ally's Shrimp, I have shown a Highland Cascade tube fly, a Fiery Cascade and a couple of Blackback Needle Tube Flies.

 

Needle Tube Fly

Cascade Tube Fly

Salmon Needle Tube Fly

Highland Cascade Tube Fly

Fiery Cascade Salmon Needle Tube Fly

Fiery Cascade Tube Fly

Ally's Shrimp needle tube fly

Ally's Shrimp Tube Fly

Blackback Salmon Needle Tube Flies

Blackback Tube Flies

 

Now available in our Online Fly Shop

Seven boxed selections of Salmon Needle Tube Flies and one for sea trout, all dressed on Grays Needle Tubes. For details, see:

Scottish Shrimp Tube Flies

Spey Shrimp Tube Flies

Minitubes

 Wee Monkeys

Blackback Tubes

 Irish Shrimp Tubes

    Sea Trout Tube Flies

 

 

For more information, or to buy some of the new fly tying tubes, see  Gray's Needle Tubes

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Our Needle Tubes and boxed selections of trout, sea trout and salmon flies are available in our online fly shop with free UK delivery on all orders over £60.

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