The Needle Fly
a slim lure for late night sea trout fishing
by John Gray
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....... continued from
fishing articles
 As
the name suggests, the Needle Fly is simply a fly or, more accurately, a
lure, tied on a standard needle, in the same way as a tube fly is tied
on a tube.
The second, and equally important, component is a treble hook whose
shank is covered by a tightly fitting rubber or plastic sleeve which
secures the point of the needle during fishing. As with a tube fly, the
leader is tied directly to the treble hook and not to the "eye" of the
fly, which, in the case of the Needle Fly, is formed by a small loop of
strong nylon (e.g. 20 to 30 lbs monofilament).
Components and
Construction
The Hook
For use with
needles between one and two inches in length,
 treble
hooks ranging from size 16 to 10 are most suitable, although doubles can
also be used. To adapt the treble hook, a sleeve of plastic or rubber
is fitted over the shank of the hook. This sleeve will secure the point
of the needle while fishing. It is important, therefore, that the sleeve
is chosen carefully to match the diameter of the hook shank. This sleeve
must be strong and tight fitting, with enough elasticity to grip the
needle firmly. If the sleeve fits loosely or is too soft, the needle may
slip out of the sleeve while casting.
Since my first
experiments with the needle fly in 1998, I have tried all the kinds of
tubing I could lay my hands on. Early versions made use of the plastic
sleeving from electric cable. I then experimented with heat shrink
sleeves, neoprene sleeves, carp rig tubing, silicone rubber and even
combinations of the above. None were entirely satisfactory.
 The
electric cable sleeving, like most examples of the carp rig tubing, was
a bit hard and inflexible. The heat shrink was also a bit hard and not
very durable, even when used in double layers. Silicone rubber, as used
on floats, was too soft and, although it is possible to buy silicone
tubing with a thicker wall, it does not grip the needle well. Neoprene
tubing was a bit bulky and available in limited sizes.
The most suitable type of tubing I have been able to find to date is
clear PVC tubing, as used for laboratory and medical applications.
I buy my supplies of PVC tubing from the following website:
www.altecweb.com
The most useful types and sizes I have tried are as follows:
Altevin Laboratory PVC Tubing, code 01-94-1561 – Bore 1.0 mm/Wall 0.5mm
(suitable for fine wire treble hooks up to size 10, best on size 12)
Altevin Laboratory PVC Tubing, code 01-94-1567 – bore 1.5mm/wall 0.5mm (
suitable for size 8 treble hooks)
It is always worth experimenting with other types.
The Needle
The second
component is a needle,
adapted by the addition of
a) a loop of
strong nylon ( 20 to 30 lbs b.s.) which forms the "eye" of the needle
fly. (Note that, as with a tube fly, the line is not tied to this loop
but to the treble hook itself).
b) a small stop
of tying thread, epoxy or fine heat shrink tubing (1.2mm shrinking to
0.6mm) applied 1cm from the point of the needle. This stop prevents the
needle from slipping through the sleeve while casting.
Needle with thread stop
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Needle with stop and nylon loop
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Dressed Needle
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Assembled Needle Fly
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Note that a needle is more easily inserted in the sleeve than a straight
piece of wire. A further benefit is that a silver needle needs no body
dressing. Needles are available in a great variety of lengths and
weights. I have found the most useful are those described as
"Betweens",
"Sharps" and
"Long Darners". The
gauge, or thickness, of the needle is described by a number and for any
given number, the Betweens are the shortest, followed by the Sharps,
while the Long Darners are the longest. We can think of
Betweens as "short
Shank needles",
Sharps as "standard
shank
needles" and Long Darners
as "long shank
needles". The table below shows the relative gauges and lengths of the
three types:
NEEDLE TYPES AND SIZES
|
TYPE |
SIZE |
DIAMETER |
LENGTH |
|
BETWEEN |
6 |
0.027
inches |
0.69
mms |
1¼
inches |
|
SHARP |
6 |
0.027
inches |
0.69
mms |
1½
inches |
|
LONG
DARNER |
9 |
0.024
inches |
0.61
mms |
2
inches |
|
LONG
DARNER |
7 |
0.027
inches |
0.69
mms |
2¼
inches |
This article, outlining the origin and development is continued at
The Needle Fly - 3
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