I am not a purist. I fish watever “fly” I can to catch fish. One of the best early spring offerings to fish; brim, bass, white bass, crappie,etc. are the tube jigs made popular by the crappie fishermen. Here’s how I rig them on a hook so they can be cast with a fly rod.Here is an example of the tube bodies
I am using a cheap size 8 aberdeen hook. I tie a little thread hump about midway of the hookshank after inserting a plastic bead on the hook. The thread hump will be under the bead after glue is applied.
after the glue dries on the “thread-hump” push the bead firmly in place, then slide the hollow tube over the bead. Applying a little glue on the bead will help hold the tube, but is not necessary. Be sure to push the tube all the way down, leaving room at the hook eye for some soft hackle.
Take a webby feather(here I’m using a pheasant feather), tie it in front of the tube and palmer it in place, pulling the fibers back as you palmer it on the hook; tie off, make a small head, add a dab of glue to the thread head, and you’re set. The rationale behind adding the hackle on the front of the tube is: 1. it attracts fish, and 2. it helps to keep the tub from being torn off the hook by vaious water obstructions; limbs, moss, water weeds, etc.
The “tube fly can be cast and “jigged” back allowing it to slowly sink to the desired depth or it can be fished under a strike indicator if fish are shallow. It can also be fished with a sink tip line or a full sinking line if fish are deeper than 6-7 feet. Try them this spring. A million crappie fishermen can’t be wrong!
