The Pro Sportfisher Steelhead Tube Tying Kit is a curated system for building durable, highperformance tube flies optimized for steelhead. It brings together matched tubing, junctions, weights, and cones so your flies track straight, shed water, and accept a short stinger hook without compromising the profile. The components work as a modular platform, letting you tune sink rate, silhouette, and movement for different seasons and water conditions without re-learning a new set of dimensions for every pattern.

Instead of piecing parts from multiple brands, this kit centers on Pro Sportfisher’s compatible diameters and shapesthink stepdown tubes that seat perfectly in hook guides and cones that flare materials predictably. The result is fewer fitment headaches, cleaner heads, and flies that last through multiple fish because the hook lives off the tube, not inside it.

How to Use It

Mount a suitable tube on your tube mandrel, create a small rear stop (melted flare or a tight thread dam), then slide on any weight and tie your body, station, and wing. Finish with your chosen cone or disc; a brief touch of heat at the front sets the cone and locks the head cleanly. Trim the front to final length, add the rear hook guide/junction tubing, and seat your stinger hook. Adjust sink rate and attitude by mixing unweighted tubes, raw barrel weights, or denser cones and by shifting where you place the bulk of your material.

For steelhead, a practical baseline is a stepdown tube around 1.8/3.0 mm with a medium hook guide and a 46 mm cone. Keep wings sparse for summer flows and bulk them up (or add a small weight) for winter green water. The systems matched diameters keep rigging predictable, so you can swap hooks freely without chewing up the back of your fly.

Example Flies

Intruder Tube: Build on a 1.8/3.0 mm tube with a short raw barrel weight slid to midtube for balance. Tie a rear station of ostrich and flash over a dubbing ball, add a slim composite loop for the front station, and finish with a 6 mm turbostyle cone to lift fibers and breathe in the swing. Black/blue or pink/orange with a size 24 short shank hook covers winter flows and pushes a confident silhouette without excessive mass.

Hoh Bo Spey Tube: Use a light stepdown tube with no added weight for a neutral, slowhover swing. Tie a sparse black marabou collar, a few long GP tippets or soft hackle for movement, and finish with a small soft head or micro cone to protect the tieoff. This rendition keeps the classic spey flow but benefits from the tubes removable hook for quick changes and improved holding power.

Temple DogStyle Steelhead Tube: On a midlength tube, create a slender body with flat tinsel, then add an underwing of bucktail for structure and an overwing of fox or templedog hair for a lively, translucent profile. Cap with a 56 mm cone to flare the wing slightly. Colors like orange/black for fall or chartreuse/white for glides give you a highcontrast scandiinspired swimmer that casts easily and stays lively at low speeds.

Bunny Leech Tube: Slide on a small weight if you need to cut surface chop, then tie in a zonker strip tail and a slim dubbed body. Finish with a modest cone to keep the strip tracking straight. Purple, black, or black/blue on a short hook rides true, takes abuse in pocket water, and remains easy to mend and control on sink tips.

Why We Like It

The kits strength is system fit: tubes, guides, weights, and cones are designed to work together, so flies build quickly and finish cleanly. You can target a specific actionneutral swing, hovering lift, or positive digby swapping a cone or weight without changing your tying workflow. That consistency makes it simple to replicate confidence patterns in multiple sizes and densities.

On the water, tube rigs land fish well because short stinger hooks pin quickly and can be replaced when they dull. Materials last longer since toothy wear happens on the hook and guide, not the body. The streamlined heads shed water for easier casting, and the cones flare just enough to keep wings from collapsing in heavy current.

Comparable Materials

Consider the HMH Tube Fly Starter Kit or FutureFlys FITS system as alternatives. HMH offers a mix of plastic and metal tubes with classic junction tubing; its versatile and robust but relies more on manual diameter matching. FutureFlys FITS tubing is soft and easy to flare, with sleek Scandinavian cones and discs. Pro Sportfishers kit leans into an integrated, modern geometrystepdown tubes that lock into hook guides and purposeshaped cones (including turbo styles) that consistently lift and ventilate materials. If you value plugandplay compatibility and contemporary swim behavior, the Pro system stands out; if you want traditional metal tube options (HMH) or ultrasoft tubing and minimalist Scandinavian hardware (FutureFly), those kits compete closely.