I've just been discovering tube flies and am curious, just how much of a following is there here in the Pacific Northwest for them? I've heard differing opinions locally.

I know a few people who fish tube flies, including Les Johnson. Have you seen Tube Flies, the book that he and Mark Mandell wrote? It's available from Amato Publications. Tube flies have some definite advantages, especially for winter steelhead fishing; they can be tied on aluminum or brass tubes to really get down on the bottom. I don't fish them much myself, mainly because I don't enjoy tying them as much as I do conventional flies.

[This message has been edited by Preston Singletary (edited 02-01-2001).]

Hello Tanya-

Tubes are rather popular in the Puget Sound saltwater around here... I always have a few in my box and have been working them in more and more as smaller diameter material becomes available. As a dry skating fly they are hard to beat because 1. with a tube fly the hook pushes the fly from the back of the tube and lets the front ride up. Think of it as pushing a stick through the water vs. pulling it. 2. you can use much smaller hooks and position them to ride hook up or hook down. I find this a great advantage when fishing 2 inch candle fish patterns for sea-run cutts. Its also easier to adjust where the hook rides in relation to the fly....if fish are hitting short you can put a much smaller hook further back in your fly by having longer tubes of the same pattern. 3. when using delicate materials such as marabou your flies last longer because they slide up the line out of the way of fighting and releasing a fish. I have been lately tying some amphipod and euphausiid patterns on tubes with the inside diameter of a small pin. Mark Mandel is also working on a second edition tube fly book in which he will cover the new materials availible...cant wait to see it. Anyway to answer your question ...yes there is quite a following of tube fly fans in the PNW.

When you insert a hook in a tube fly point up, the fly will ride upside down. Just a note.