Awesome to hear from you! How ironic... I was catching up with my email and sent you a note. When I gave the board one last check - there was a post from you! Spooky, but very cool.
A while ago I exchanged tube flies and materials with several salmon anglers from the British Isles. I have some very fascinating examples of how they tie in the UK and Sweden. Also, a wide variety of tubes including brass, aluminum, and plastic purchased here from Kennebec River. K/R makes the tube holder for standard vises that Les Johnson turned me on to at the Swallows Nest. Mike Kinney used to work there too then, those were the days, eh? Anyway, most of these are classic salmon color themes with hairwings, frequently rigged with double hooks. The hooks I received in my tube fly swap were partridge hooks, but I'd have to look them up to be honest.
Because of the way coho hit in the saltchuck, I preferred tube flies to offset the hook toward the rear half. The way those fish hit at Sekiu and Neah Bay would send the tube up the leader and you could often see another emerald backed hooknose chasing the flailing tube fly while the other fish thrashed.
I've recently been thinking about going to tube flies in the salt here in the Cape Cod area for two reasons: fly re-use after hook damage (sand, rocks) and reduction of bite-offs from toothy fish. The hook placement is a non-issue with striped bass because they hit at the head of the fly.
The last time I hooked a steelhead on a tube was on the Skagit last spring with Andre and guide Ed (the steelhead bum) Ward. I was fishing one of Ed's radical tube fly designs, which you are probably familiar with. The tube allowed for a very intrusive stimulator fly design to be fished with a reasonable hook, in fact the fly cast easily despite it being pretty huge. The fish came unbuttoned but I hesitate to say it was due to hook design or tube.
I guess I need to fly back out an do more research!
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best regards,
Juro
A while ago I exchanged tube flies and materials with several salmon anglers from the British Isles. I have some very fascinating examples of how they tie in the UK and Sweden. Also, a wide variety of tubes including brass, aluminum, and plastic purchased here from Kennebec River. K/R makes the tube holder for standard vises that Les Johnson turned me on to at the Swallows Nest. Mike Kinney used to work there too then, those were the days, eh? Anyway, most of these are classic salmon color themes with hairwings, frequently rigged with double hooks. The hooks I received in my tube fly swap were partridge hooks, but I'd have to look them up to be honest.
Because of the way coho hit in the saltchuck, I preferred tube flies to offset the hook toward the rear half. The way those fish hit at Sekiu and Neah Bay would send the tube up the leader and you could often see another emerald backed hooknose chasing the flailing tube fly while the other fish thrashed.
I've recently been thinking about going to tube flies in the salt here in the Cape Cod area for two reasons: fly re-use after hook damage (sand, rocks) and reduction of bite-offs from toothy fish. The hook placement is a non-issue with striped bass because they hit at the head of the fly.
The last time I hooked a steelhead on a tube was on the Skagit last spring with Andre and guide Ed (the steelhead bum) Ward. I was fishing one of Ed's radical tube fly designs, which you are probably familiar with. The tube allowed for a very intrusive stimulator fly design to be fished with a reasonable hook, in fact the fly cast easily despite it being pretty huge. The fish came unbuttoned but I hesitate to say it was due to hook design or tube.
I guess I need to fly back out an do more research!
best regards,
Juro
