A Slim
Lure for Late Night Sea Trout Fishing
by John Gray
See
also the new Needle Tubes at
Grays of Kilsyth
Picture the scene..... A night in late July.
It's
one a.m. and you are alone by a favourite fishing pool. The
river has gone quiet. You would be inclined to
doubt
that there were any sea trout in the river if it weren't for the
brace of two pounders in the bass at your side. You tip them out
on to the grass for another look. They shine silver in the
moonlight, fresh from the tide. They were taken well before
midnight on a size 8 Butcher, fished on a floating line. Since
then, nothing. Time for a change, for something bigger, to be
fished deeper, perhaps on a slow sinking line. Something long
and slim and not too heavy.
A look in your fly boxes reveals a variety of
fishing lures, tied over the years for just this purpose. A box
of tube flies in all shapes, sizes and materials; a selection of
Waddingtons; rows of beautiful tandem lures, sparsely dressed in
the Falkus style; a few Marchogs with their long trailing
trebles. Each, in its own way, ingenious. Each undoubtedly
effective as a sea trout fishing lure. Yet none of them quite
perfect.
The Tube
fly, though simple in design, is not the easiest thing to fit in
a fly tying vice. It also has a relatively bulky body,
particularly the commercially available plastic versions, while
thinner plastic tubing has a tendency to bend if used in longer
lengths. Metal tubes, e.g. aluminium, though thinner than the
plastic, can cut into the nylon leader if the internal plastic
core is damaged. In addition, I have always felt that the
attachment of the treble hook by means of a length of fairly
thick plastic tubing is too bulky to be entirely satisfactory.
The Waddington lure can be tied on various gauges and lengths of
wire but the attachment of the treble hook can be problematical.
The fly may have to be discarded, or, at the very least,
partially retied if the treble is damaged. Sunk lures have the
advantage of being very slim and well balanced. However, whether
tied using singles, doubles, trebles or a combination, all
involve considerable time and care in their construction and,
when damaged, will likely have to be discarded.
I sought,
therefore, to devise a sea trout fishing lure which would
overcome the shortcomings of these earlier designs while
retaining some of their best features. Such a lure would ideally
have the following characteristics:
-
It should be simple to construct, in a
variety of sizes and weights, using inexpensive and readily
available materials.
-
It should be easy to attach to the line or to
change at night.
-
The hook should be easily replaced if
damaged, without the loss of the lure itself.
-
It should be generally light in weight, even
in large sizes, so that it can be easily cast and fished
effectively on both floating and sunk fly lines.
-
It should have a slim profile to give the
impression of a small fish.
-
The lure should always swim in line with the
leader.
The result,
after much experimentation, was the Needle Fly
As the name
suggests, the Needle Fly is simply a fly or, more accurately, a lure,
tied on a standard needle, in the same way as a tube fly is tied on a
tube. The second, and equally important, component is a treble hook
whose shank is covered by a tightly fitting rubber or plastic sleeve
which secures the point of the needle during fishing. As with a tube
fly, the leader is tied directly to the treble hook and not to the "eye"
of the fly, which, in the case of the Needle Fly, is formed by a small
loop of strong nylon (e.g. 30 to 35 lbs monofilament).
Components and Construction
The Hook
For
use with needles between one and two inches in length, treble hooks
ranging from size 16 to 10 are most suitable, although doubles can also
be used. To adapt the treble hook, a sleeve of plastic or rubber
is fitted over the shank of the hook. This sleeve will secure the point
of the needle while fishing. It is important, therefore, that the sleeve
is chosen carefully to match the diameter of the hook shank. This sleeve
must be strong and tight fitting, with enough elasticity to grip the
needle firmly. If the sleeve fits loosely or is too soft, the needle may
slip out of the sleeve while casting.
Since my first
experiments with the needle fly in 1998, I have tried all the kinds of
tubing I could lay my hands on. Early versions made use of the
plastic
sleeving from electric cable. I then experimented with heat shrink
sleeves, neoprene sleeves, carp rig tubing, silicone rubber and even
combinations of the above. None were entirely satisfactory. The electric
cable sleeving, like most examples of the carp rig tubing, was a bit
hard and inflexible. The heat shrink was also a bit hard and not very
durable, even when used in double layers. Silicone rubber, as used on
floats, was too soft and, although it is possible to buy silicone tubing
with a thicker wall, it does not grip the needle well. Neoprene tubing
was a bit bulky and available in limited sizes.
The most suitable type of tubing I have been able to find to date is
clear PVC tubing, as used for laboratory and medical applications.
The most useful sizes I have tried are as follows:
PVC tubing, bore 1.0 mm/Wall 0.5mm (suitable for fine wire treble hooks
up to size 12)
PVC tubing, bore 1.5mm/wall 0.5mm (
suitable for size 10 and 8 treble hooks)
It is always worth experimenting with other types.
The Needle
The second
component is
a needle,
adapted by the addition of
a) a loop of strong nylon (about 30 - 35 lbs b.s.) which forms the "eye" of the needle
fly. (Note that, as with a tube fly, the line is not tied to this loop
but to the treble hook itself).
b) a small stop of tying thread (varnished) applied 1cm from the point of the needle. This stop prevents the
needle from slipping through the sleeve while casting.
Note that a needle is more easily inserted in the sleeve than a straight
piece of wire. A further benefit is that a silver needle needs no body
dressing. Needles are available in a great variety of lengths and
weights. I have found the most useful are those described as
"Betweens",
"Sharps" and
"Long Darners". The
gauge, or thickness, of the needle is described by a number and for any
given number, the Betweens are the shortest, followed by the Sharps,
while the Long Darners are the longest. We can think of
Betweens as "short
Shank needles",
Sharps as "standard
shank
needles" and Long Darners
as "long shank
needles". The table below shows the relative gauges and lengths of the
three types:
NEEDLE TYPES AND SIZES
TYPE |
SIZE |
DIAMETER |
LENGTH |
BETWEEN |
6 |
0.027
inches |
0.69
mms |
1¼
inches |
SHARP |
6 |
0.027
inches |
0.69
mms |
1½
inches |
LONG
DARNER |
9 |
0.024
inches |
0.61
mms |
2
inches |
LONG
DARNER |
7 |
0.027
inches |
0.69
mms |
2¼
inches |
This article, outlining the origin and development is
continued at
The Needle Fly - 3
more fishing
articles
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