Heavy Tubes

[sagefly]

Depending on the flow of the river I use a wet 2 or wet 4 line with up to 3" copper tubes for fishing the spring and back end on the Tweed.

I have noticed that over the past 2 seasons I have been using more aluminium tubes and dressed trebles.

On the Dee this Feb we were using floaters or sink tips with size 10 flies.

I think that each river has a different method or ghillies choice for that season.

[macsalmo]

Hi Alan,

Like you I now like fishing with a fast sinker and a lot lighter flies when applicable.

Have you noticed in the veniards catalogue that you can get little extension pieces for the bottle tubes to make them as big and heavy as you want ( Ive got a spare hard hat ;D)

Gary

[dryburgh]

I use them at the back end quite a bit. Ghillies on certian beats almost insist you fish a 3" brass comet all day and only switch to junction shrimp for the last hour in the gloaming. Used with a fast sinker it will certianly let you know about it.

not for girls.

[rennie]

Got some of those very tubes drybourgh,quite effective tho. when the tweed is barreling through at the back end,need a heavy line in front of them tho. Tube of choice is a lightweight brass tube sold by Ellis Slater,this weight suits me as I find it fishes at the same level as a wet 2 more movement than a conventional brass tube and definitely better than the really heavy jobbies (he sells three grades of brass tube),also like a 1"copper but tied with the wing length of a 1 1/2 or 2"fly,do use aluminum but usually for Sea Trout and plastic preferably for micro. tubes,but after chatting to a Norwegian on the Dee this year will be playing with a plastic tube and cone head.Got more types of bottle tubes than I know what to do with but my jury isn't settled on them yet,too pricey for what they are.Model shops sell brass tubing and its easy to make your own up,cheap too (thats a Yorkshire man talking). Pedro.

[Fruin]

Springer,

Be very wary of the tubes from Tackle Trade. I tied some tubes up with them and used them this spring. Obviously, being the spring, they went in a box with bright flies tied with yellow/green/orange etc etc arctic fox and shlappen hackles etc etc etc.
After I had used a couple and put them back wet, I opened the box later to find that a lot of my bright coloured flies were now irreversibly dulled down by a brown stain. It seemed to me that the metal used for the tubes had reacted somehow to being wet, and had leeched something onto the wing and hackle materials, ruining countless flies in the box.
I can't say for certain that it was the tubes from tackle trade that caused the problem, but it has never happened before or since with other tubes. I will not be risking another box of flies.

[Fruin]

Springer,

Did the schlappen bleed onto all colours and make the flies almost, wholly a peaty brown colour?

I hope the problem is the shlappen, as I've a full box of the tubes from Tackle Trade, and I've decided the schlappen is too soft for spring tubes anyway.

[wilbert]

Sounds like the colours are running to me. Going back to my art classes at school i know if you mix the 3 primary colours together you get brown so it would be fair to say that the colour has run and mixed.

[Fruin]

Springer,

The colour of a dried teabag is exactly the colour of the affected materials ;D

Thanks for the advice; I'll be binning the schlappen!!!