Tying Tube Flies – Coming in future instruction, Ruben Martin will be tying midges on tubes. Yes, midges.
You tie on a tube rather than a hook shank, that’s it
Skip Clement
By Skip Clement
Ruben Martin, an internationally recognized fly tyer is known for his innovations and leadership in the Spanish speaker fly fishing/tying community with over 50,000 podcast viewers. He has partnered with Skip Clement to introduce the advantages that tube flies currently absent from the dominantly hook-tied fly population of US and Canadian fly fishers pursuing trouts, as well as those in the global community.
We are not talking about tube flies for billfish and steelhead, which are common tools with recognized advantages. Ruben will, instead, show how to tie smaller tube flies for trouts, a process he has simplified and will share each month in a feature called we will call As Ruben Sees It.
Tying Tube Flies Clarify
Ruben has demystified tying small, classic trout flies, something nobody has concentrated on. He especially helps those who think undertaking tying tube flies will be a burdening expense. Well, it is a less than $20 investment. There’s no need for a different vise, strange new tying techniques, or a new inventory of materials. You tie on a tube rather than a hook shank, that’s it.
The Royal Wulff is one of the most famous and influential dry flies; this speaks of its enormous versatility and application in the fishing of many species worldwide. Its tube version improves the effectiveness of this great fly. Photo is a screenshot – Ruben Martin holding tube Royal Wulff he just tied.
Tying tube flies is, in many ways, much easier than tying and dealing with hook-tied flies. For anglers in Europe, especially in Scandinavia, where innovation flourishes, tube flies have been known game-changers for trouts, grayling, and anadromous fish for decades – found in every trout angler fly box. But even there, the tying still needs Ruben Martin’s embrace of small flies – even midges.
Tube Flies Innovation
Everyone I know who has adopted a tube fly assortment in their fly box has eventually embraced tube flies as first-chair in their fly boxes. Tubes, at some point, become the dominant selection.
