Thanks again Iain: I read this article too. Looking at the Orange Skittle and the Kolander, it appears that the wing, beard, etc. are all tied on the hard plastic tube in front of the metal tube. As Deb indicated, the plastic is melted at the end to produce a small ridge to prevent the head sliding off. What I'm not sure of is if the same plastic tube is melted at the hook end to make it permanent like the Veniard slipstream tubes.
Looking at the remaining flies, I'm not sure if they are tied on the metal tube or plastic. Terry's Favourite gives the clearest image, but I think it too, is started on the plastic liner and may overlap onto the tapered nose of the metal tube. Tough to see, without a real close up or better still a step by step illustration of the tying process. Part of the problem is that the front of the metal tube is often cloaked by the tying materials, I have just gone through my back copies of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying and located the article noted below (July 2005). It discusses the development of the short tubes and lists the tying ingredients for the flies but omits the important detail re the plastic liner. Neville Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:22 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [VFB] Shumakov tubes Neville there are several types of tube and i think the winning metheod will vary to type look here http://www.flyfishing-and-flytying.co.uk/flytying/half-inching.html iain
