Knowledgeable steelheaders throughout the Great Lakes region are slowly realizing the beauty and the effectiveness of tube flies. Conventional tube designs are still the most popular, but modern Scandinavian tube designs and patterns are beginning to draw a lot of interest.

Conventional tube fly designs use straight-diameter plastic or metal tubes. Because straight-diameter tubes without junction tubing have a tendency to spin, most flies on these tubes were historically tied “in the round” with the wing and hackle tied completely around the tube. In recent years Great Lakes tiers have converted many of their most effective patterns into this conventional tube style, including streamers, Zonkers, Woolly Buggers, leeches, standard steelhead wets, Spey flies, some nymphs, and even egg flies. The popularity of these conventional tube designs is no doubt a result of the easy access tiers have to straight-diameter tubing from both fly-tying manufacturers and unconventional sources.

Scandinavian tube-fly designs are leading the way in innovation today. These modern tube flies are tied asymmetrically—with a wing on top—in the “fatback” or Temple Dog style, in which a long, soft wing is angled high away from the body and the fly is finished with a characteristically small head.

These fatback flies are well balanced, swim level on the swing, and allow fly tiers to create specific patterns to imitate baitfish, which are the primary food source for Great Lakes steelhead.

The Tube-Fly Advantage

The advantages of tube flies are many. At the top of the list is the benefit of a big fly with a small hook. A tube fly allows you to use a smaller, short-shank tube hook instead of the larger, long-shank hook commonly used in long streamers or traditional salmon flies. Long-shank hooks can be hard to cast and can lever themselves from a fish’s mouth, resulting in a higher percentage of lost steelhead. Short-shank tube fly hooks cause less injury to fish compared with the lever action of a long-shank hook, which can gouge a much bigger wound during a long fight.

After hooking a steelhead, a tube fly normally disengages from the hook and slides up the leader out of the way. This greatly extends the fishing life of the fly, since it is not damaged by the steelhead’s teeth during the fight. This also makes it easier to remove the hook from a steelhead’s mouth, because there is clear access to it.

Other advantages include:

• A damaged or dull hook can easily be replaced with a new one onstream without discarding the fly.

•Tube flies allow you to control the weight of the fly by changing the tube. In general, plastic tubes are ideal for moderate to lower flows and small streams, although fast-sinking lines and cone heads can effectively sink plastic-body tube flies in faster, deeper flows. Metal tubes of various densities and designs are also effective for getting down quickly.

• Tube flies are more economical to tie, since only a handful of hooks are needed for dozens of patterns.

• Hooks can more easily be positioned upward, like a keel fly, reducing the chances of snagging bottom.

• Hooks can sit farther back in longer tube-fly patterns by using a longer tube body or extending the junction tubing to compensate for short-striking fish.

• A tube fly enables you to easily change the hook size and design—thereby increasing or decreasing hook weight—in order to balance the fly and make it swim level.

Plastic Versus Metal Tubes

Conventional tube patterns can be tied with plastic or metal straight-diameter tubing. Because of the diameter of the tube, these flies often have bulky finished heads, which some tiers consider unsightly.

Straight-diameter metal tubes get you down quickly in deep or fast water but the weight of the tube can take away from the natural movement of the fly, and they are difficult to cast with single-handed fly rods. Double-handed fly rods generate much more energy and seem to handle heavy tubes better. Long, heavy metal tubes can also hang up on the stream bottom and experience “hang down,” in which the rear of the tube fly tips downward slightly and the fly does not swim level during the swing.

Most Great Lakes steelheaders use plastic tubes because they give the fly a more natural and lively swimming action. Getting these light plastic tubes down in heavier water is not a problem with a fast-sinking line and a short leader. Plastic tubes rarely get caught on the stream bottom and are easier to cast than heavy straight metal tubes, especially when they have some added weight—such as a cone head or bead—to help turn over the leader. Aluminum tubes provide just enough weight to turn over the leader and don’t get hung up on the stream bottom as often as copper and brass.

Rigid plastic tubes cost less than metal tubes but are not as durable in cold weather because the tube can become brittle and split or shatter when the fly hits stream rocks and other obstructions while casting. FlexTube, available from the Canadian Tube Fly Company (canadian tubeflies.com), Veniard Slipstream (veniard.com), and Guideline FITS (guidelineflyfish.com), flexible plastic tubes hold up much better in a wide range of temperatures than most rigid plastic tubing. This tubing also allows a direct hook connection. Junction tubing creates a bulky appearance and can loosen after multiple casts if not glued in place. [For more information on tube flies and a complete listing of tube suppliers and tube vise manufacturers, see flyfisherman.com/tubes. The Editor.]

Conventional Tubes

Creative fly tiers have used everything from the shafts of Q-tips swabs, spray can nozzle tubing, automotive air-brake line, and hardware-store metal tubing for tube flies, but the rigid plastic and metal tubes offered by HMH (hmhvises.com), Veniard, Rooney Tube Works (rooneytubeworks.com), and The Canadian Tube Fly Company are more convenient, durable, and create finished flies with a lower profile.

Rigid plastic tubing is available in precut lengths but can also be cut to the desired length. After you cut the tubing, melt the front end with a lighter to form a collar, which prevents tying materials and thread from slipping off the front of the tube and facilitates a small, neat head. Melt the rear of the tube to help secure the junction tubing connection. Melting the ends of the tube may have the added benefit of smoothing sharp edges to prevent leader abrasion.

Scandinavian Style

The Temple Dog or fatback style of tying Atlantic-salmon and streamer patterns was originated by Hakan Norling of Sweden with the goal of adding more movement to the wings of Atlantic-salmon hairwing patterns, which can be best described as stiff and lifeless.

Temple dog or tempelhund fur has great action in both fast and slow water. It has finely curled fibers, which provide volume or a “fat back” to the shoulder of the wing while the tips can be easily stroked into a tapered point.

Norling tied his Temple Dog wings using a reverse wing technique in which you initially tie the wing with the trimmed wing fibers facing the hook bend and then fold the wing over toward the rear to achieve a high wing angle. This maximizes both the profile and movement of the wing, particularly in fast water.

Norling used metal and plastic tubes and called them "half-inchers" due to the short tubes—although the completed wing length was substantially longer than the tube and hook length. He felt that the best swimming action came from the lightest possible combination of cone head, tube weight, and hook size for the speed and strength of the current flow.

Temple Dog wings are made of soft, natural hair such as temple dog fur, Arctic fox tail, Icelandic sheep hair, llama hair, T's Hair, and Russian silver goat. Small amounts of flash add subtle reflection, color, and movement. The taper of the wing is formed by layering small amounts of hair, of different thicknesses and lengths, from bottom to top. Some tiers add small amounts of stiffer materials like bucktail to the bottom layer of the wing to provide support. Temple Dog wings are long (3" to 4" on average), angled high, tapered to a point over the hook, and teardrop-shaped when viewed from the top.

The full silhouette of the wing and the movement provided by soft wing materials make the Temple Dog fly design very effective for imitating baitfish. Adding jungle **** cheeks to either side of the wing, suggesting baitfish eyes, makes it even more deadly.

The wing is translucent and absorbs little water. This makes Temple Dogs easy to cast compared to patterns such as rabbit-strip streamers with heavier, wind-resistant, water-absorbing wings.

Specialty Tube Bodies

European tiers have improved on conventional straight-diameter tubes by developing specialty tube bodies that minimize tying bulk and make streamlined, well-balanced flies that stay level when fished on the swing. These tube designs fall into either the conehead variety, or the extensive bottle tube lineup. Bottle tubes include traditional and hybrid types that incorporate metal tube bodies and small-diameter liner tubing.

Norling and legendary Swedish Atlantic-salmon fly tier Mikael Frödin developed the Frödin Improved Tube Fly System (FITS) for tying Temple Dog flies. FITS uses a longer tube body with two diameters of flexible plastic tubing and small, light metal cones of different sizes and weights to balance the fly and help it sink.

Frödin uses his flattened Turbo Cone to create an eddy of turbulence behind the fly that prevents the wing material from collapsing in fast current. Turbo Cones promote a lively swimming action and help the fly maintain a full profile even if it is constructed with soft materials like temple dog fur, Arctic fox fur, marabou, and ostrich. Turbo Cones also push more water which sends out a disturbance steelhead can sense even in murky water.

Cones make the fly easy to cast and help to cover the thread wraps at the front of the fly. The downside is purely esthetic. The addition of the cone at the front of the fly eliminates the characteristic small, finished heads of the original Scandinavian patterns.

Russian-born Jurij Shumakov—who died of a heart attack while fishing on the Kola Peninsula in August 2006—developed a 1/2" machined bottle-tube hybrid with a weight-forward design to level the fly during the swing. Shumakov designed his tubes so the finished fly would have a small, neat head due to the use of small-diameter, rigid plastic tubing at the front of the fly. Shumakov tubes (shumakovtubes.com) are available in various weights and configurations for different water conditions including the Long Range, Heavy Long Range, Skittle, and Summer Arrow.

Jack Cook of The Irish Angler (irishangler.com) has recently launched a 1/2" machined tube (another bottle-tube hybrid) as part of the Steelhead Anglers Tactical Tube System (TTS). The tube design is based on Cook's experience working with Shumakov, Frödin, and Henrik Andersen fly designs as well as his own successful steelhead design theories.

TTS tubes ride horizontally in the water, and the shoulder design supports the wing perfectly. They are made in Portland, Oregon, and are available in brass (0.8 gram) and aluminum (0.35 gram) with brass, nickel, copper, and gunmetal finishes and come complete with small-diameter plastic liner tubing.

Bottle Tubes

Bottle tubes are available in aluminum, brass, and tungsten and are generally short and fast-sinking due to their concentrated weight. As the name implies, they have a bottle shape, with the tapered front helping to streamline the fly and allow for a small finished head. A short section of junction tubing is used to make the hook connection.

On traditional bottle tubes, the fly is tied on the front collar portion of the bottle. On hybrid bottle tubes, the fly is tied on a small-diameter, rigid plastic liner. This allows you to finish the fly with a much smaller head than with a traditional bottle tube.

Martin Joergensen of Denmark improved bottle tubes with a rim that allows for close and secure tying at the head, and a small-diameter rear end to fit a vinyl or silicone hook sleeve. Optional metal extension tubes can also be connected to the tube for tying longer-bodied flies and increasing the tube weight. The French company Bidoz (www.bidoz.com) produces the Joergensen bottle tube in 12mm and 15mm lengths, as well as metal extensions in both aluminum and brass.

Loop Tackle (www.looptackle.se) makes fast-sinking brass traditional bottle tubes in 1/2" and 5/8" lengths (gold or silver finishes). The center of balance of the Loop bottle tube is toward the rear, resulting in great tail action.

Loop bottle tubes are easy to cast and enter and leave the water quietly. They are ideal for tying compact flies—longer patterns require more junction tubing to position the hook farther back. A tapered front and a small-diameter collar with a rim allows for a smaller finished head than is possible on a straight metal tube. The front and rear tube openings on Loop bottle tubes are beveled and polished.

German company Wurm Tungsten Products (tungstenshop.de) makes a micro Tungsten Bottle Tube in silver, gold, copper, and gunsmoke finishes. This compact, dense tube comes in 6, 9, 12, and 15mm lengths and is designed for use with Wurm's integrated soft external and stiff internal colored tubes. The Wurm tube system lets tiers dress tubes with small heads on long tube bodies, which is not possible with the short design of most bottle tubes.

The Canadian Tube Fly Company offers traditional brass and aluminum bottle tubes in 15mm and 22mm lengths which are similar to Bidoz bottle tubes except they are much heavier due to a smaller center hole. They also have a tapered shape to allow for a smaller head, and contoured lips on both ends of the tube.

Finnish company Eumer Pro Fishing Accessories (eumer.com) manufactures traditional and hybrid bottle tubes including Teardrop, Cone Tube, and Conehead products. The Teardrop shape helps balance the fly on the swing. The Cone Tube has a cone built into the brass tube, while the Conehead is a two-part design. Both the Teardrop and Conehead tube designs accommodate small-diameter plastic tubing (which Eumer supplies) to reduce the head size. Eumer tube bodies come in a variety of sizes as well as bright colors, which make dubbing a body optional.

John Nagy is the author of Steelhead Guide: Fly Fishing Techniques and Strategies for Lake Erie Steelhead (Great Lakes Publishing, 2007). The updated 4th edition includes a new chapter on tube flies with 28 new tube fly patterns.