The Modular Tube Fly - Part 2
By Benson Adams

  Part two of the Modular Tube Fly series will cover adding and removing weight to your flies. This is one of my favorite options in the Modular Tube Fly System and is definitely one of the most valuable as well. With the option of adding and removing weight to a tube fly, we can fish the same single tube fly in different seasons and situations.

Obviously we can't use the same fly in every situation. With the Modular Tube Fly System, you can take a fly you fished in a shallow run during the summer time, add a cone head weight to it, and fish it through a deeper section of the river. Normally you would've had to tie the same fly twice, one being weighted with a cone head, and a second without the cone head, in order to fish the same style of fly effectively through a shallow and deep pool. But now in some situations you can tie just one tube fly, bring a cone head weight with you to the river, and if you need to, add the cone head weight to the tube fly. Or if you know in advance that you will be fishing mostly deep pools, add the weight to the tube fly before you hit the river, and only remove the weight if needed.

The first step to using the interchangeable cone head weights is to tie your Modular Tube Fly on a tube that closely fits the cone head weight's interior diameter. It doesn't have to be an exact fit, if the cone head's inside diameter is a little large then the tube you are tying on, that is ok. As long as the junction tubing holds the cone head weight on, your are set. I use a variety of options when creating this style of a fly. HMH Hybrid Tubing (pictured above), as well as Canadian Tube Fly Companies' Flex-Tube (pictured above and below) both work very well. There is an assortment of different junction tubing available that will fit on these types of tubes. Tubeology Junction Tubing works well for bigger sized hooks. Canadian Tube Fly Company makes a junction tubing that works great for medium to larger sized hooks.

Pictured above, we have the backbone of a Modular Tube Fly, with a smaller cone head weight on the back, and the larger pink cone head positioned in the front of the pattern. It is very important to tie on the larger cone head weight in the front of the fly. I almost always use the larger, heavier cone head in the front, and a smaller cone head in the back. If you use a larger cone head in the back, and a smaller cone head in the front, you will have hook hang down, where the rear of your tube fly is heavier then the front, causing the fly to swim at an angle with the hook hanging down in the back. We want to avoid this scenario whenever possible so that our fly swims horizontal instead of at an angle.

Now that you have seen how to add weight to the tube fly on the backbone, we will see how it works on a finished tube fly (pictured below). I'm using a pink cone head on the end of this tube fly intruder so that it stands out a little bit more in the picture, obviously you can use whatever colors you have available. This tube fly was tied on a piece HMH Hybrid Tubing, with Tubeology Junction Tubing to hold the cone head in place.

Pictured below, we have the smaller sized cone head placed on the end of the tube fly, with a hook placed in the junction tubing so that you can see what the finished tube fly will look like. This tube fly intruder has a heavy cone head weight at the front of the tube, it is underneath the spun Rhea, Amherst and Ostrich hurls, making it harder to see.

Finally there is yet another, very simple option that allows you to add weight to your tube fly, or any fly for that matter. You can easily add weight to the front of almost any fly by sliding a cone head, or bead head weight up the line before you tie the fly on under it. Pictured below is a fly that was originally tied for shallow water, but with the addition of a cone head weight on the front, this same tube fly can now be fished through a deeper section of the river if needed, by simply adding a cone head, or bead head weight to the front.

Additionally you could use this last option to help eliminate hook hang down. Let's say you are fishing a fly you have recently tied for the first time and for whatever reason there is more weight on the back of the fly. Normally the only way you could avoid hook hang down in this situation would be to swap out the fly. However to avoid hook hang down without having to completely swap out flies, you can add a smaller sized cone head weight on the line in front of the fly. This option won't work for every application, but you may find yourself in a situation where it might just do the trick.

By Benson Adams 2012 ©
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