Tube flies is the big thing in Europa and salmon, trout and Northern pike anglers will readily use tubes for many different fly patterns. Not only do the tubes allow anglers to make big light pattern that is easy to cast on light fly fishing equipment, but the tube fly also gives the angler new ways of presenting the fly as something unique.

Tube fly for difficult situations

As I write this post, I have just returned from an evening fishing at the mouth of the river where I fish – Salmon had just entered on the 6 o’clock tide and as the water was pulling back to the sea. Small and big salmon were settling near the big rocks on the river bed.

As the water is only a few feet deep, I use tube dry flies; tiny Frances shrimp flies and single hook wet fly patterns like Blue Charm and Undertaker in # 12… Today the fish was unwilling and a cold northerly wind blew in from the sea… In such difficult situations, most anglers will pack up and leave. Still, I brought out tiny clear-bodied tube flies with wings made of a few hairs from silver tippet squirrel – I call it the V-FLY, and I fish this micro tube fly as a riffling hitch pattern – Riffling hitch pattern can work wonders in such unfriendly conditions. I soon had the first fish turning for the fly, and almost every fish settling in the shallow pool tried to grab the fly.  Two fish to the tiny V-FLY an hour later had turned this bitterly cold evening into a fantastic day of salmon fishing.

We produce some of the best tubes for tube flies.

As tube fly fishermen, we appreciate perfect tubes for our fishing and fly tying, and we have used countless hours with plastic manufacturers to get the tubes perfect for tube fly production. Most tubes bought in fly fishing shops are made for different purposes than flies and fly fishing. Still, the tubes designed with Fishmadman fit the bill – One such tube is our tube designed for riffling hitch flies such as the simple V-FLY – This is a flexible tube made from a PVC free Polyethylene formula that will hold many different size hooks – withstand harsh weather conditions and a lot of mechanical wear and tear.

A squirrel in Western Europa could very well look like this guy …very bright red in its colouration – Here is one from my garden in Denmark, where this colour of the squirrel is the dominant genetic line of the Sciurus vulgaris (Eurasian red squirrel) – once black squirrels were the dominant genetic version in Denmark …now it is rare to see all black squirrels in my part of Scandinavia.

Finding the right material for Riffling Hitch flies is important. The wake of the Riffling Hitch fly might be the key point – But the fly and the way it is built is what generate the wake.

Take time to select the perfect squirrel tail

We buy many tails to select the best possible tails for our V-FLY; we want a squirrel tail with thin hair, as we have found that flies tied from this hair have superior fishing abilities when hitching for Atlantic salmon…

We are proud to offer specially selected Silver tip squirrel tails (Eastern Grey squirrel)

We have been scouting for a supplier of silver tip tails that we could trust to harvest the tails when the hairs had the right texture.

We managed to find a Game Warden in the UK that knew what we were looking for –

Richard, a salmon and trout angler, promised to help us with our extraordinary project.

Setting traps for squirrels is part of Richards’s daytime job – and by doing so at the right time of year, we have secured a small stock of these first-rate Riffling Hitch tails.

Buy tails from us

Barred Brown Squirrel tail – Small Pine Squirrel

We occasionally carry these tiny Pine Squirrel tails in our shop – Take the rare opportunity to buy a perfect squirrel tail for your riffling hitch and other micro tube flies.

Find them here

Russian Flying Squirrel

A tiny squirrel tail – and very hard to find – Some of the finest fly-tying material we have ever seen.

Siberian Pygmy Squirrel

The smallest squirrel we have ever seen – and some of the finest hair we have ever come across – Most  likely not your everyday roadkill fly-tying material

Himalayan  Squirrel

Rare squirrel material quite close to its cousin, the small pine squirrel

Chinese Pine Squirrel

Similar to its US cousin but much softer – A nice tail for small and medium salmon flies

Eurasian red squirrel – the black version

Eurasian red squirrel, as they formally are known (Scientific Name: Sciurus vulgaris), is a squirrel species widespread across Northern Europa and the vast forest land of Russia where some squirrels are caught in traps and their pelt is used for various garments – Truly great material. Super quality and perfect for miniature patterns like riffling hitch flies and any other fly pattern designed to lure trout, salmon and char. The Eurasian red squirrel is found in colour variations ranging from jet-black to almost ginger red Buy it from us

Eurasian red squirrel

Here in a black coloured version

– Buy it from us

Eurasian red squirrel

Here is a browner coloured version

– Buy it from us

Fox squirrel

The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant’s fox squirrel, is the largest tree squirrel native to North America. Great material for bigger or very bushy flies – less efficient for smaller patterns.