Grays
Needle Tubes
Ultra slim stainless steel tube fly tubes
with outside diameter of only 1.5mm
developed for tying very fine needle tube flies for salmon, steelhead and sea trout fly
fishing
The Needle Tube, like its antecedent the Needle Fly,
was designed originally with sea trout in mind. The
aim was to produce fine, shiny, steel tubes on which
to dress extremely slim, sparsely dressed lures of
up to around two inches in length, lures which might
create a tantalising impression of a small fish or
sand eel which would be irresistible to summer sea
trout, a task for which the Needle Tube has proved
extremely effective.
Developed and made in Scotland by
Grays of Kilsyth, using ultra slim stainless
steel tubing, the type used in the manufacture of
hypodermic needles,
Gray's Needle Tubes are currently the finest plastic lined
metal tubes available for fly tying, with outside
diameters as low as 1.5mm. Being made from fine
polished stainless steel, needle tube flies sink
more readily than plastic or aluminium tube flies
but fish a little less deeply, and perhaps more
attractively, than the bulkier and heavier copper and brass
tubes.
The Needle Tube lends
itself to the dressing of
slim tube flies not only
for sea trout but for other species, particularly
salmon and steelhead, although their dressing might
be adapted for any predatory fish, pike or bass for
example.
Needle Tube
Review in Fly Fishing & Fly Tying
Magazine
In his review of Gray's Needle Tubes, in August 2011,
Magnus Angus wrote:
"…. slender, gleaming tubes; utterly functional and
very tempting! …. these are extraordinary in a
couple of ways – slimmer than any straight tubes I
have seen for sale – stainless steel which is both
hard to find and hard to cut.
…. flies tied on these tubes are not like heavy
bulky conventional tubes, these are light and sleek,
cast easily and can be controlled by a sink-tip or
poly-leader. Want to fish deeper – use a faster
sinking line. In other words these are modern tubes
for modern fishing techniques which emphasise easier
casting and employ sophisticated modern fly-lines to
determine fishing depth.
As a fly tyer the proportion, neatness and finish of
these tubes and the neat finish I can achieve on
them appeals directly to the satisfaction I get from
fly tying. And stainless steel tubes are about as
tough as fly tying tubes get – so my carefully tied
flies should fish a little longer. Then as an
angler, the slimness of these tubes makes me think
of clear water and sea trout. The shorter tubes seem
ideal for those wee speck-like flies for low flows,
longer tubes for faster water or fishing into the
dark ..."
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Dressing the Needle
Tube
Tying
Tube Flies on needle tubes can be a very simple process. The tube
fly body may be dressed in the normal way or left undressed
to give a simple, very slim silver fly body, as shown in the
example above. A short length of silicone
tubing is then used to connect a hook of appropriate size,
treble, double or single. If a fly longer than 40 mm is
required, two needle fly tubes may be joined in tandem by a
length of the silicone or PVC tubing to produce a fly of
anything up to 8 cms in length.
Needle Tubes can be dressed to create a
wide range of flies, from
a short and very slim micro tube of only 10 mm in length,
perhaps for summer grilse in a low water, through the whole
range of 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 mm tubes, dressed for
salmon, steelhead or sea trout fishing throughout the season. The longer tubes, dressed sparsely, make very
attractive sea trout lures, more easily dressed, and just as
slim as the popular sea trout snake fly, for late night sea
trout fishing.
Lighter than the
traditional copper or brass tubes, but heavier than plastic
or aluminium tubes,
Needle Tube Flies sit somewhere in the middle of the
weight scale, with a sink rate similar to a dressed double
hook or a Waddington lure, but with the benefit of a hook -
treble, double or single - which may be changed according to
fishing conditions or replaced when damaged.
Since their introduction at the start of
the 2008 fishing season, these ultra slim stainless steel
fly tubes have made something of an impact worldwide,
recording many notable successes - Atlantic salmon,
steelhead and sea trout ..... Read more about their success
in
Needle Tube Fly Fishing
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