Nicholas’ Mini Fish Taco Tube Steelhead Fly
This is a downsized version of the fly tied by my friend Jeff Hickman—tied on a Pro Sportfisher Classic Tube. The entire series of the Fish Taco flies are well established as effective patterns to fish for steelhead and salmon. One of their key features is the fact they they are not weighted.
This fly’s light weight means that the fly will not “bottom out” at the end of the swing when the fly arrives in slow inside water. This is crucial because this is the zone where many grabs come either because this is where the fish are laying or because this is where the fish have followed the fly from deeper water.
Here are the basic ingredients for this pattern
Thread – Veevus 10/0 Red
Preferred cement – Brush on Lok Tite
Tube Mandrel – Pro Sportfisher Flexineedle, large
Tube – Pro Sportfisher Classic Tube (med fl. Pink)
Butt – Chartreuse Ice Dub, #54
Wire – Ultra Wire, Copper, small
Body – Senyo’s Fusion Dub, Pink Lady
Palmer Hackle – pink dyed grizzly saddle
Alternate Saddle – (Old Trout Saddle Pack)
Shoulder Dubbing Ball – Senyo’s Fusion Dub, Eat-a-Peach
Ostrich – Pink UV2 Ostrich Plume
Flash – holographic pink #6988 Flashabou
Colar Hackle – Schlappen, Fl. Shrimp Pink
Facing Collar – Blue Dyed Guinea Large UV2
Cone – Pro Sportfisher Metallic Blue Ultrasonic Disc, medium
One key feature of this tube fly is that the hook should be rigged on a loop, with the knot pulled into the rear of the tube. By varying the size of the loop, you are able to place the hook as close or as far back from the body of the fly as you wish.
I hope you find this useful and have fun with this fly on the water—it is a winner!
Jay Nicholas, Autumn 2017
