Tube Flies for Steelhead and Pacific Salmon
Tube flies have long been popular and successful in North America for both Steelhead and Pacific Salmon fishing, just as they have been in Europe and Eastern Canada for Atlantic Salmon. The Intruder style of fly has also become increasingly popular for both steelhead and Pacific salmon in recent years, with many beautiful and innovative patterns devised by North American anglers for the purpose. Intruder Flies are often dressed on Waddington shanks with a trailing single hook attached by means of a wire or nylon link, allowing a long, slim-bodied fly to be created which will swim at a reasonable depth and is relatively easy to cast and fish, while the hook may be easily replaced if damaged.
Needle Tube Flies for Steelhead
The stainless steel Needle Tube, with an outside diameter as low as 1.5mm, is as slim as a Waddington shank and of comparable weight. It presents an additional option for the dressing of intruder style patterns. A couple of needle tube flies are shown below, with the kind of dressing which might be attractive to North American salmon and steelhead. They are fitted here with free-swinging single hooks, the hook eye and knot being protected and held in line by simple knot guards made from heat-shrink tubing.
Flies dressed on Needle Tubes have also proven effective in recent seasons on the rivers of British Columbia, for example on Vancouver Island
A couple more Scottish Shrimp style needle tube flies are shown below which might appeal to Pacific species. One benefit of the stainless steel needle tube is that it is relatively simple to dress, requiring no body dressing. Such tube flies may be armed in the conventional way by using a short length of silicone or PVC tubing to secure the hook at the rear of the tube, or the hook may be allowed to swing freely using a swing tube or Knot Guard, as in the examples above.
Intruder Needle Tube Flies
Since their introduction around 1993, Intruder flies have proved increasingly popular and very effective in North America for both Steelhead and Pacific Salmon. They can be dressed on long shank hooks, wire shanks or on tubes to create an imposing, intrusive lure in a great variety of sizes and colours. Such lures may also be successfully adapted to Atlantic salmon and sea trout fishing.
The stainless steel Needle Tube lends itself to the tying of Intruder style patterns, being as slim as, and of comparable weight to, a Waddington shank, often used as a base for Intruders. In addition the needle tube is much more easily dressed. A few examples of Intruder flies dressed on needle tubes are shown below. For more photographs, see the link to Intruder Tube Flies in the main menu at the top of the page.
Needle Tubes for Pacific Salmon
Following their success with Great Lakes steelhead, Needle Tube Flies have proven effective more recently for Pacific salmon, for example this impressive Campbell River Chinook on Vancouver Island (fish and photograph by Chris Tucker).
Four Species of Pacific Salmon on the Needle Tube Fly
The four species of Pacific salmon shown below were caught last season by Chris Tucker on Vancouver Island.
