Poor mans tubefly

Hello everyone, I have been digging up some step by steps I have done in the past. I would like to share with everyone.

I was shown this fly a long long time ago by a doctor I used to fish with. Even though he had the money to buy anything he wanted he still felt that if you could save a few bucks, and get the same quality then why not right? So thats where I got this from, I have used it for trout, salmon, steelhead, you can tie anything on a tube, I tie muddler minnows on the tube all the time and they work great! You can put coneheads on tubes, beads, pretty much anything you would put on a normal hook.

So here you go.
and ps. yes I know the plastic can crack in the winter but it sure beats loosing expensive brass or copper tubes if you cant afford them all the time.
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Step 1- Take a razor blade or scissors and cut a 1/2" chunk of q-tip off

Step 2- You want to make a small lip on the end of one side of your tube. Take the chunk of tube you just cut and use a lighter and slowly roll the tube between your fingers while holding it close enough to the flame that it melts the tip just enough to make the lip you want. You roll it between your fingers so it makes the lip even.

Step 3- Put the needle in your vice like you would a hook, I cut the tip of the needle so it does not poke me and so you do not have a long piece sticking out while tying the fly

Step 4- Slide the tube on and make sure you slide it far enough back so it does not spin while tying the fly

Step 5- Start right behind the lip and wrap your thread back a little bit.

Step 6- Pick out a piece of black and a piece of purple marabou and strip the first few fibers off the bottom of the feather. You will be palmering these forward so make sure the feathers you pick have long flowing fibers

Step 7- Tie in your marabou at the tip you stripped

Step 8- Palmer your black marabou forward and tie off

Step 9- Tie in 4 pieces of pearl crystal flash on each side of the fly

Step 10- Tie in your purple marabou at the tip as you will be palmering it forward like you did with the black marabou

Step 11- Palmer your purple marabou forward and tie off

Step 12- Whip finish

Step 13- Apply a drop of head cement

Step 14- It a personal choice weather you like to do this or not but I take a piece of surgical tubing and super glue it onto the tube. You can then slide the eye of your hook into the tubing and it will hold it there.What this does is it prevents the fly from sliding away from the hook while fishing it.

I like it.I will definitely try it.Thank you

I've heard of using "Q" tips for tube flies. I don't know if this is true, but I read that the real "Q" tips brand has SOLID stems and that the various "dollar stores" was the place to pick up the cheaper ones that are hollow.

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Originally Posted by Silver Creek

I've heard of using "Q" tips for tube flies. I don't know if this is true, but I read that the real "Q" tips brand has SOLID stems and that the various "dollar stores" was the place to pick up the cheaper ones that are hollow.

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That is true, I should change that to "cotton swab"

The colored shafted Q tips are hollow...the white solid. I think I got 600 for a dollar some time ago....now the packages are smaller.

Nice tying and great step by step! Have to try that.
Mike

Excellent!

Just an FYI, this general tubefly pattern (in materials/colors of your choice), with a small (size 10?) barbless treble hook trailing at the ends of the materials, is a pattern that some guys around here are using for Shortnose Gar. Its hook-up/landing rate is about the same as using rope-flies, but is much easier to cast.

I've had good success with these for steelhead in Northern Ont. Easy to make and you can interchange parts such as mid sections and tails. Nice pics.

That's real nice; thanks for sharing.

Regards,
Scott