A versatile salmon tube fly armed with a lightly dressed single hook
by John Gray
The Tingler is simply a tube fly armed with a lightly
dressed single hook. By arming the tube with variously dressed single
hooks, the appearance of the tube fly can be altered considerably. Both
the tube and single hook may, of course, be dressed according to quarry,
taste and circumstance. The Tingler was initially dressed for sea trout
night fishing (see
Sea Trout Tingler) but the principle and dressing may be adapted for any predatory species. The examples shown here are intended for
salmon fishing.
The Tingler
Why Single Hooks?
Over the years I, like many salmon and sea
trout fishers in the UK, have tended to arm my tube flies with
trebles, and, more recently, with tube fly doubles. I am not
sure why .... probably a mix of tradition and the feeling that a
treble may hook and hold a fish more securely than a single
hook. My experience, however, has not really borne out this
idea. Indeed, I suspect that, if anything, I have lost more
salmon and sea trout hooked on small trebles and doubles than on
single hooked flies. I see no reason why a single hook should be
less effective when used in conjunction with a tube.
Furthermore, the use of a single hook on a tube fly may offer
the following advantages:
1. There is a
wide range of single hooks available, in a variety of size,
shape, style and strength, which are suitable for use
with tube flies, e.g. straight eyed carp hooks. Such hooks are
also less expensive then trebles and doubles marketed as tube
fly hooks.
2. With the growing awareness of the need to conserve fragile
salmon and sea trout stocks, the single hook makes it easier to
release fish quickly and without harm.
3. The use of a lighter single at the tail end of the tube
allows the lure to swim, possibly more attractively, on a more
even keel, with the bulk of the weight towards the front of the
lure. In addition, a shorter and therefore lighter tube may be
used (where a weighty lure is not required) in conjunction with
a long shank single, which may be more easily cast, particularly
on a light single handed rod.
4. A variety of lightly dressed single hooks, in various
materials, densities and shades, may add some mobility and
vitality to the tube fly and variously dressed single hooks can
be readily interchanged with various tube dressings to create,
most economically, a wide range of colour/shade/shape options.
For example, four tubes and four dressed single hooks, all with
different dressings, give a possible 16 variations of fly, 20 if
we include the possible use of an undressed single hook.
The Unarmed Tube
The Tingler Armed with a Variety of
Lightly Dressed Single Hooks
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