Stonefly tube fly tied by Ruben Martin.
Finding the fault line with angler/fly tiers
Henry Clement, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, August 2023.
By Henry Clement
Tying tube flies in the US, Australia, Latin America, and the Caribbean remains limited to big game fish, principally billfish. In addition, on the North American West Coast, Great Lakes, and Eastern Canada, the salmon and steelhead tube fly is acceptable, even preferred by some anglers.
However, those freshwater flies all look as if tied by one creator: they are fraternally alike. With few exceptions, the current style of steelhead and salmon flies seems invented, shaped, and sized as if approved by an Orwellian Big Brother. I guess it is a groupthink thing.
Juxtaposed are the Europeans
With a few exceptions, the Scandinavians have graduated their angling and fly-tying communities into improving their casting and catch stats by turning to multipurpose tube flies. They have found that brown trout, graying, coastal sea trout, zander, and other game fish species—not just Atlantic salmon—are better to cast and catch using small tube flies. Their tube flies for the Atlantic salmon can also differ from the groupthink flies. They can be small, dry flies or in the Riffling (skating) style.
Avoiding tube flies because of retribution
Is it as if some Administration in the dark corner of our angling world has us fearful of slipping on a banana peel if the merits of tube flies are exposed? Revealing this unknowable anti-Oz admin’s deepest prejudices and painful incapacities has been a malingerer for too long. The admin, witch or warlock personage, has our Canadian and US big league fly tiers avoiding using small tube flies, fearing their impact. Or is it admin retribution fears, currently cowering our once-respected men and women conservatives and spilling headlong into every walk of American life? Sorry, I just needed to say that.
Ruben on the job. Ruben Martin website . . .
A brighter bulb and a fearless man, Ruben Martin
Ruben Martin, a fly casting instructor of many disciplines, master fly tier with a worldwide audience, and friend of this endeavor, has captured the how-to-tie small tube flies. He has been the world’s leader in tying functional small tube flies for well over a decade.
His ‘‘new’’ expression has found favor in the land of trout giants, Argentina principally, and Chile. He has also proven their catch veritas, ease of tying (YouTube videos), and the fact that they retain all the benefits for which they are known. Efficiently managing fly weight far better than hook-tied flies (improves casting), changing the hook advantage to suit the situation or replacing a damaged hook (not the fly), and taking away the hook’s leverage by having the fly slide up the leader when the hook takes the fish.
Tying small tube flies has become a passion with satisfying rewards. I’m hoping to pass it on to others
Montana Golden Stonefly Nymph – Thom Glace website.
Try this Ruben Martin Stone Fly Nymph for an excellent tube starter . . .
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