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Needle Tube Fly Fishing
Grays Needle Tubes have taken some notable salmon,
steelhead and sea trout
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Grays Needle Tubes, developed and manufactured in Scotland by Grays
of Kilsyth, are made from fine stainless steel tubing, as used in the manufacture
of medical hypodermic needles. With outside diameters as small as 1.5
mm, they are the slimmest plastic lined metal
tubes currently available commercially for the fly tyer. Since their
introduction at the start of the 2008 fishing season, these
ultra slim stainless steel fly tubes have made something of an
impact worldwide, recording many notable successes - Atlantic
salmon, steelhead and sea trout ..... |
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THE NEEDLE TUBE |
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Here are just a few of them ..... |
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ultra slim stainless steel
tubes for salmon, steelhead and sea trout flies |
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| click on images to enlarge |
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Atlantic Salmon
Spectacular Sport in
Norway
Since their introduction
last season, Grays Needle Tubes have proved extremely
effective for Atlantic salmon. This 10.5 kilo fish was
one of a number taken in late June 2009 by Geir Kjensmo
from the River Orkla in Norway. All fish were taken on
one of Geir's Needle Tube Salmon Spiders, which he wrote
about in the April Issue of Trout & Salmon magazine.
See Geir's
Full Report here
Another
Norwegian angler wrote
"I love your needle tube
flies. The salmon love
them too! Today I got 6
salmon (3 -6 kg)"
Making its Mark at Home
in Scotland
The Needle Tube has also
accounted for many Scottish salmon, one happy rod
reporting six salmon for his week on the Spey in May
2009, weighing 8lbs, 8lbs, 10lbs, 12lbs, 20lbs, 23lbs,
all taken on flies dressed on Grays Needle Tubes (Monkey
and Stoat's Tail patterns). The biggest fish took a
Stoat's Tail dressed on a 10mm long needle tube.
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10.5
Kg fish taken on one of
Geir's Salmon Spiders |
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A couple of Geir's
Salmon Spider needle
Tube Flies |
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Great Lakes Steelhead
Bob Schoeller is an accomplished
fly fisher and fly tyer, who fishes for the steelhead of Lake
Erie and its tributary streams. Bob had great success last
season with a selection of beautiful flies dressed on Grays
Needle Tubes. Bob has used the longer lengths of needle
tube to create a range of stunning baitfish patterns, which have
proven extremely effective fished from the lake shore, while the
shorter needle tubes have been dressed as small colourful
shrimps, for use later in the season on the tributary streams.
In one report Bob writes ....
"I did get out Friday and
tried out the shrimp on your needle tubes. Fantastic! .... I took a
fish in the first drift and ended up with seven fish in 3
hours fishing .... best trip yet this year ..... I
got out again today and had a cracker of a day! I
really got lucky and got some very nice fish
this morning ..... all on your needle tubes. They
certainly have helped my fishing this year. It's
the best year I've had to date due in no small part to
the needle tubes. The three of us landed 19 fish for the morning (all on your
needle tubes) ..... The biggest one was a very fat hen fish of
16 lbs ..... the best of the year thus far for me. "
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The photographs above
show Ed Middleton's magnificent sewin, a
fish of 15 lbs 12 ozs, taken on a simply
dressed needle tube in June 2009 from
the River Towy. |
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Sea Trout
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The Needle Tube was
originally developed primarily with sea trout in
mind. The idea was to make the slimmest possible
tube fly for late night summer sea trout
fishing. The resulting Needle Tubes, in lengths
up to 40mm and with an outside diameter of only
1.5mm, have filled the bill admirably and
continue to account for many good sea trout and sewin throughout these islands. They have
performed with distinction on many rivers from
the Spey to the Towy and beyond. |
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One of six Spey sea trout taken in a few hours
fishing on a needle tube fly |
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A typical sea
trout needle tube fly, sparsely dressed on a
needle tube of 1.5mm outside diameter. |
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Dr Bill Smith is among other Towy fishers
who have reported notable successes on the Needle Tube.
Bill writes, "I recently visited the Golden Grove beat
on the Towy. I started fishing at 10.45pm with a 15 mm
needle tube sparsely dressed with natural dyed blue
squirrel and a few strands of crystal flash. By 11.30 I
had had 4 fish from 3 to 6 pounds. A friend fishing with
me then tried the fly and had one of 4.5 lb. A tropical
downpour then stopped play .... I use the micro tubes
all the time now on my local river, the Fowey, and am
looking forward to trying them for salmon on the Deveron
in August."
The Needle Tube
continues to do well here in Scotland. One happy angler
wrote to say, "I
was on the Spey 2 weeks ago and had some good sea trout
(best 5.5 lbs) on your needle tubes. I also had a 7lb
salmon on one at dusk", while, back in south Wales,
Dafydd Rees writes, "Got
out with the fly rod on the weekend ... used one of the
smaller 20mm tubes with a very sparse Alexandra variant
and ended up catching my bag limit in 30 minutes flat! A
very short night's fishing! If that is any indication of
how well these needle tubes fish it should be a good
season!" and, later, "Just
to let you know, I've had my most productive sewin
season ever, with ten days still to go, thanks mainly to
the needle flies I have been using tied on your needle
tubes ... fishing with flies that give you a lot of
confidence is a bonus, many thanks for the raw
materials."
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Dovey Sea Trout
This
specimen sea trout of
16.5 pounds was taken at
night in June 2011 on
the Welsh Dovey (Dyfi)
near Machynlleth by New
Dovey Fishery
Association secretary
Richard Evans on his own
tying of a Sunray Shadow
dressed on a Needle Tube
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and further
afield ....
Needle
Tubes have also been
working well on the
rivers of Japan, as
illustrated by this
photograph of a Japanese
rainbow trout, taken by Makito
Koyama on a 40mm
needle tube fly. |
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Salmon at Night
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On the night
of 20th May,
while
fishing for
sea trout on
the River Spey
at Grantown, I
myself took this
eight pound
salmon, at
11.30 pm in
the dark ... |
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on this two
inch long
needle tube
fly .... |
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.... and a six
pound Spey sea
trout taken on a
Needle Tube Fly,
June 30 2011 |
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Grays Needle Tubes
Gray's Needle Tubes ,
developed and made in
Scotland by Grays of Kilsyth, are now available online
in two diameters and in lengths ranging from 10mm to 40 mm. To be
dressed, these very thin tubes are best held in the newly developed
Needle Tube Fly Vice. Also
available are a range of Needle Tube Flies for salmon, sea trout and steelhead fishing.
For more information, see:
Grays of Kilsyth
and
Tube Flies
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