Vampire, Arctic Fox Tube Fly
This color was added based on a request from an Idaho angler looking for a fly to imitate the vampire leeches that plague some of the high desert lakes of the Great Basin. These creatures are “night crawler brown”, often with a blood red vein after a meal. This is the only tube fly with the flash in the center of the fly rather than as an accent on the exterior of the fly. I will often fish it without the disc, behind a dodger 3’ up the line or with the disc 6” or more above the fly to make a slim profile.
Additional Info
These flies can be rigged and trolled in a number of ways. These flies can be fished “naked”, just the fly and manipulated with your rod. The Jay Fair method and ripping are a couple of ways to fish just a fly on a sinking line. Dodgers are another popular way to animate the flies. Dodgers limit the speed range for trolling without rolling the fly. The Wiggle Fin Action Disc #1 is an excellent way to animate the fly at any depth. With the #1 disc on the nose of the fly the materials will be lifted out by the turbulence produced by the disc. At 4 to 12 inches above the fly, the fly will have a narrower profile and a tighter vibration/wiggle. A Wiggle Fin Action Disc #2 makes the fly jump back and forth similar to a dodger. Some anglers have tied in swivels with a bead or the Slide Lock Bead to hold the disc up the line. A video with underwater shots of many of my flies rigged can be seen here: Fly Rigging Video.
Due to increasing inflation costs I have been struggling not to raise my fly prices. To maintain my fly prices, I will no longer be sending an Action Disc with each Arctic Fox Trolling Fly. My new policy will be: If you order a minimum of 6 mixed Arctic Fox #2 flies and Arctic Fox Tube Flies I will include one #1 Disc for every two flies ordered. ie If you order 6 flies: three discs included, order 8 flies get 4 #1 discs, order 10 flies get 5 #1 discs.