Cascade Tube Fly Tying

Tying a Cascade Needle Tube Fly

Since it was devised by Ally Gowans, the Cascade salmon fly, along with its countless variants, must have accounted for thousands of salmon worldwide, but perhaps particularly on Scottish rivers. It can be dressed on single, double or treble hooks, on Waddington shanks or on tubes of all kinds. Here I illustrate the tying of a simple Cascade tube fly variant, dressed on a slim stainless steel needle tube. Varied patterns, in a range of sizes and colours, may be dressed in this style, which I think of as Scottish Shrimps. In this form, the tube requires no body dressing and the few component materials are all tied in at the head of the fly, making for fairly easy tying. The tube can be armed with single, double or treble hooks. The example shown below is armed with a size 8 Kamasan B983 single hook allowed to swing freely in a heat shrink Knot Guard, although the hook may be as easily secured by inserting it into a short length of silicone or PVC junction tubing in the more conventional way.