GB2382968A

GB2382968A - Improvements relating to flies for fly fishing

Info

Publication number: GB2382968A
Application number: GB0125972A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steffan Haydn Jones
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-30
Filing date: 2001-10-30
Publication date: 2003-06-18
Also published as: GB0125972D0

Abstract

An imitation fishing fly constructed of two substantially rigid tubes 2 and 3 and a flexible braided sleeve 1 which is of a length greater than the combined length of both tubes. The tubes are fixed within the ends of the braided sleeve by bindings 5 and 6. A fishing line is fed through the tubes and a fishing hook attached. The hook may be positioned partly inside one of the tubes. Materials may be attached with one set of bindings to form imitation wings. This fly is lighter and more aerodynamic, making it easier to cast and causing less leverage than a standard one-piece tube-fly.

Description

Improvements relating to flies for fly fishing This invention relates to flies for fly fishing.

A well-known construction is a tube fly. A short tube of aluminium or a light alloy has a bore just sufficient to be threaded by the leader to which the hook is attached.

The tube may have an inner lining of plastics material. To one end of this tube are secured by a circumferential binding the filaments, feathers or other elements that represent or simulate the "wings" of the fly.

For ease of casting and for buoyancy, the fly should be as light as possible. Although a light metal may be used for at least the outer part of the tube, it is still going to be denser than water. So a plastics tube alone might suggest itself. However, if it is sufficiently thin walled and small gauge, the binding for the wings tends to be too tight, constricting the tube and making it impossible to thread the leader through, or too loose, so that the wings are not secure.

Another drawback with a metal or metal and plastics tube is that it is too rigid, and with certain manoeuvres a fish caught on the adjacent hook can lever it out of its mouth.

It is the aim of this invention to achieve a fly which is unlikely to have these disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided a fly for fly fishing comprising two substantially rigid tubes, and a flexible braided sleeve of greater length than the combined length of the rigid tubes, which are captive

w within the ends of the braided sleeve by bindings, one of which also secures the wings of the fly.

One tube provides a solid base for the wing binding, which also prevents the braid unravelling at that end. The other tube and binding around it merely prevents the braid unravelling there.

The tubes can be short, say 10 to 15 mm while the braided sleeve may be 40-50 mm in length. There will thus be a substantial length of sleeve between the tubes which can flex. This substantially reduces the leverage problem referred to above.

The composite body of the sleeve and end tubes can be considerably lighter than the full length tube it replaces, and it will trap air in its intertices. A line with such a fly will therefore be easier to cast and the fly will be more buoyant. Furthermore, the filaments of the braid can be differentially coloured, or of various characters and finish, to give a surface texture that will reflect or refract light in a manner attractive to fish.

A braided sleeve, when compressed axially, expands radially. It is therefore quite easy to insert a tube and then lengthen out the sleeve again so that the braid grips around the tube. But to simplify further the assembly of the fly, the tubes will preferably be adapted to attach to one another end-to-end. They can then both be inserted into the sleeve in one operation and subsequently parted by manipulating them through the sleeve and working them to their respective ends.

One way of achieving this is to have non-matching tubes, one of which can plug a short distance into the end of the other. This one tube could be a short length of the known composite tube (aluminium or alloy lined with plastics) used for flies, while the other tube could be a short length of plastics tube of larger gauge and fairly thickly walled and stiff to support the binding without collapse.

For a better understanding of the invention, one embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded view showing components of a tube fly, and Figure 2 shows the fly assembled.

The components are a length of braid, to form a sleeve 1, a short tube 2 of composite construction with an outer aluminium sheath over a plastics lining, a short tube 3 of plastics material into the end of which an end of the tube 2 can plug, and "wings" 4. Bindings 5 and 6 are not shown in Figure 1.

The tubes 2 and 3 in their joined condition are inserted into the sleeve 1 so that the tube 2 lies at one end. The braid, having been axially compressed for this entry, is stretched out and the wings 4 are attached by binding 5 around the part of the sleeve supported by the tube 2. The sleeve 1 is then axially compressed, and the tube 3 is parted from the tube 2 and worked down to the other end, where the binding 6 is applied once the sleeve is stretched out again. The bindings ensure that the braid does not unravel.

While tubes have been referred to throughout, in a modification of the invention, unlikely to be preferred, they could be replaced by solid rods. The leader would then be attached alongside the body of the fly.

In a further modification of the invention, the second tube, which serves merely as a support for the binding which stops unravelling at the non-wing end, could be omitted if that unravelling was prevented in some other

way. For example, that end of the sleeve might be dipped in an adhesive that would hold the filaments together or, if the filaments were of a suitable plastics material, they could be fused together by short exposure to a flame.

Claims

Claims :- 1. ) A'Fly'that incorporates two or more tubes covered in some form of materials, natural or man-made, that come together.
2. ) Components of the fly (e. g. Tubes + Materials), as claimed in claim 1, can be of any colour, of any size, made from any material, combination of materials and be any weight.