Tube Jig Fly
- This topic has 19 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated Mar 16, 2011 at 6:25 pm by
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See the full Tutorial for detailed tying instructions http://flyartstudio.com/wordpress/?p=764
Tube Jigs are deadly for warmwater bass fishing, especially for smallmouth bass. Over the past two years I have tied and tried many various patterns to mimic the action of tube jigs, but with limited success. As many of you know, the tubes are deadly in areas with shallow rock cover, and that is where smallmouth love to hang out. The deep crevices and nooks hold fish when you would often think otherwise. The trick is getting the lure over the structure in a lively manner to entice the fish to strike. That is where the gear fisherman have a golden horn in the tube jigs. These lures have an action that calls all fish to them. However, on the fly fishing side, it has been a challenge to develop an effective pattern that has a similar movement and will sink to depth in time to start the strip retrieve before the line bellows out and creates slack. A wooly bugger just won’t work in many situations and it lacks the movement of a tube jig. On the other hand, heavily weighted flies are often too hard to cast and require 10wt rods or greater, which is often impractical. Also, the Estaz fly rod tube jig patterns are just not bulky enough to provide the lively action necessary to make the fly look alive under water.
Thus, after many variations, my current tube jig fly pattern has evolved into a very effective, if not deadly, pattern. The secret is the use of the new Enrico Puglisi EP Crustaceous Brushes in combination with a balanced head-forward weighting system. The EP brushes allow you to add bulk and sculp the tube shape without added weight, and the lead wire and lead eyes give the fly the wiggle-waggle motion when retrieved. These flies can be fished with a floating wf line on a long 10-14 foot leader (in shallow water or on rock structure) or with a sink tip line (in deeper water or early in the season when depth is critical).
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RECIPE
Hook: Eagle Claw 410 1/0 Bronze (purchased in bulk from DO-IT Molds http://www.do-itmolds.com/)
Thread: Mono 0.006
Eyes: Lead Eyes, medium or large
Flash: Krystal Flash, color to match brush/body color
Tail: Flat Rubber, about 20 strands
Body: Enrico Puglisi EP Crustaceous Brush (best colors for bass are Toby Toad Black/Yellow, OCRB-OL Olive, TOBR Toad Black/Red, 3T 3-Tone)
Weight: Lead Wire, 0.030
Fly Length: 3.5 inches
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Those look great…I tie something similar with Angel Hair spun in a dubbing loop…no trimming involved.
Those look great…I tie something similar with Angel Hair spun in a dubbing loop…no trimming involved.
I’ve tried many variations, such as the Angel Hair home spun dubbing loop. However, none have produced the desirable bullet like body that rockets through the water and wobbles. The EP brushes are the best solution after much trial and error because they pack tightly and can be sculpted to shape, while at the same time negating bulk and have the ability to easily shed water on the pickup and back cast. With the added weight, this combination is the closest I’ve come to reproducing a tube fly like the gear guys use.
Examples of the tube jig lure for those who don’t know what they look like.
The hooks – with weight-forward heads
The Tube Jigs
A link of how to fish a gear tube jig for trout – the traditional non-fly-fishing method.
http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/tips/shore/tube_jigging_trout_salmon.htmTraditional tube jigging methods
http://www.longpoint.on.ca/lpbaa/tube_jigging_basics.htmhttp://www.bassdozer.com/articles/tube-bait-fishing-tips.shtml
So how big a rod are you using to huck those bad boys?
I use the Sage Small Mouth rod with either the standard 300gr line or, if on ponds/lakes, with the 300 grain sink tip line. These flies could easily be thrown with a 7-8 wt 9ft rod also. They really aren’t that heavy but do require a good double haul cast to get them out with a good tight loop.
Neal your tutorials are some of the best out there. I used a few of them this weekend for an upcoming tarpon trip. Your tying closet must be one of the most organized around.
Thanks Mark.
Great stuff Neal. I saw the EP Brush material at the store yesterday afternoon and couldn’t think of what it could be used for. Looks like a very cool pattern – thanks for the great tutorial!
One fly per brush unfortunately. “IF” you loosely palmar the brush you might be able to get two flies. However, I use the EP brushes all the time to make wooly buggers and crabs, and I can get 3 or 4 flies out of one brush – but those are the standard brushes and they are used on flies that don’t need to be bullet shaped. The Crustaceous brushes are thicker and meant to be used as a way to tightly pack the materials and then trimmed to shape.
Here are a few examples of the standard EP brushes and how I use them (i.e. NOT the Crustaceous brushes).
Tell the truth I use a 6wt. TFO TiCr to do most of my bass fishing and I will say that its not all that hard. Before that I was using an 8wt Scott but I found that I enjoyed fishing the 6 for bass much better. The thing I learned was just to slow down my casts and open my loops abit and it allowed me to throw big hairy Fodders and clousers.
I don’t see where a larger rod would be needed for those tube flies. Once again, great tie.
Super rad flies, Neal! I’m going to try and tie some up for this weekend. These would be perfect for spawning bass here in Texas. Where do you get the majority of your materials? Online? I need to put an order in pronto!
www.mattjonesphotography.com
Matt,
You can order the materials directly from EP http://epflies.com/index.php/fly-tying-materials/materials/ep-crustaceus-brush-w-micro-legs.html
The eyes are just standard lead eyes – medium
The hooks are Eagle Claw 410, size 1/0 (fresh water) http://do-itmolds.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=2_93_98
Mono thread is 0.06
Rubber can be purchased at any fish shop that ties spinner/buzz bait. Or Here http://www.bearsden.com/product1981.html. Or your preferred online store.
I’m having a hard time finding the legs that are in the olive/orange/teal combo. Those colors are incredible. Where can I get those?
www.mattjonesphotography.com
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