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Tube Flies

The forums are very quiet

The Global FlyFisher forum has existed for almost as long as the site, and the oldest posts are more than 20 years old. Forums aren't what they used to be. Social media has taken over a lot of their roles, and the GFF form is very quiet ... to put it mildly.
We keep everything online for the sake of history, and preserve the posts for as long as possible, but as you will see, quite a few of them aren't in a good shape, but rely on old images hosted elsewhere, which are no longer available, odd codes from old systems and much more, which can't be shown in a decent way.
But the posts are here, and you can - if you insist - start new threads. But don't stay awake waiting for replies, because they are unfortunately few and far apart.
Martin

Hi, the recent series on tying tube flies has given me some ideas about useing tube flies on the Tongariro river, but no one in NZ stocks tube flies or the bits needed to tie them.
So does anyone know a reliable source that would ship to N.Z.?
Thanks for your help.
Mike.

G'Day Mike...
These folks supply my needs...
Their premium tube tool is the finest I've seen/used...
They ship internationally and do a good job at customer service...
Google HMH Vises or adjust the info below to see the site...
www . hmhvises . com/premiumtubes

There are options that, I'm sure, will be shared by other kind members.
Good tools just make things easier and more enjoyable...
You can [i:eff641197b]never[/i:eff641197b] have [i:eff641197b]too many [/i:eff641197b]"[u:eff641197b]good tools[/u:eff641197b]"!
Tubes are an interesting and effective alternative...
No worries...Have fun and knock yourself out!
BTW
My favourite local shop and another source worth looking into:
International order friendly... www . bearsden . com

I'm a cheap-skate, so I'll offer a good "poor man's solution" or two:

A 'normal' fly vise can be converted to a makeshift tube vise by taking some thick (12 gauge) wire from any hardware store and making a candy-cane looking loop out of it. Once you have that, you can slide the tube on the longer leg, up to the bend in the "candy cane", and then take a piece of closed- cell foam, folded in half, and double- pierce the foam with the cane and slide the foam to the back end of the tube to hold it in place. It's easier in pictures than words, but hopefully this makes sense... You want rigid wire, but not so thick as to damage the vise jaws.

Another "poor man's solution" is to use round coffee stirrer straws in place of the tubes. They're almost the same exact diameter tubing as the (price hiked) fly store tubing, and are a fraction of the price. Only downside I've found so far is the color selection, and really, one need not worry that much on that, as you're often covering much of the tube with the tying offerings.

Just my 2 cents worth,
Pete

Thanks guys, I will keep you posted how I go this winter on the Tongariro with some tube flies I have bought from an online shop.
I have only used the spey rod for nymphing so far and have had some good results. I am even slowly getting the hang of the double spey cast!
Thanks.
Mike.

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