Pro Sportfisher Tube Fly Materials Quick Picks
- Best Starting Tube: Pro Sportfisher Flexitube System - A one-piece molded tube with a 40mm tying surface and a 40mm integrated hook guide, so you do not need separate junction tubing.
- Best for Scandinavian-Style Flies: Pro Sportfisher Micro Tubes - A short 31mm tube that weighs 0.09 grams, built for sparse Scandi salmon and steelhead flies.
- Best Weight: Pro Sportfisher Cones - Classic coneheads sized to fit any tube with a 2.2mm outer diameter. Seating the cone over the final wraps protects the head.
- Best Hook Alignment: Pro Sportfisher Hook Guides - Tapered silicone guides that plug into the back of a Micro Tube or Nano Tube to align the hook and add or remove a hot butt. Four sizes and nine colors.
- Best Tool: Pro Sportfisher Tube Needles - The Flexineedle bundle with Small, Large, and Extra Large needles. The flat conical tip with four corners locks the tube in your vise jaws without spinning.
How to Choose Pro Sportfisher Tube Fly Materials
Start with the tube
The Pro system is built around tubes with a 2.2mm outer diameter, the size most weights, cones, and heads are made to fit. The Flexitube 40/40 is the simplest start because the hook guide is molded in. The Micro Tube is the short Scandi-style option, and the Pro Sportfisher Classic Tubes are extruded tubing you cut yourself, in Small (1.4mm), Medium (2.2mm), and Large (3.2mm) with fluorescent, holographic, and glitter finishes.
Action: Buy Flexitube or Micro Tubes to tie right away with no cutting. Buy Classic tubing, sold as six straight 20cm pieces per pack, to set your own lengths for anything from small trout and steelhead flies to long intruders.
Add weight, or do not
Every Pro weight fits the 2.2mm tube, so the choice is how much weight and what it does to the materials. Cones add a little weight and cover the head wraps. The Pro Sportfisher Drop Weights are teardrop brass pieces that control sink rate and, when hackle or marabou is tied directly in front, flare the materials outward for a fuller profile without a dubbing ball. Flexi Weights are modular, and Raw Weights pack the most weight into the smallest package.
Best for: Flies that need to move rather than sink, the Pro Sportfisher Ultra Sonic Discs, a vented brass disc in 7mm, 9mm, and 11mm designed to create a vortex so soft materials swim instead of collapsing in current. The Soft Sonic Discs are the reinforced plastic version for the same water push with almost no weight, and the Flexi Beads add color without weight.
Finish the fly: hook guides, heads, eyes, and shells
Action: If you tie on Micro or Nano Tubes, add a Hook Guide so a short-shank, straight-eye hook sits in line with the fly; Flexitube has the guide built in. For baitfish heads, the Pro Sportfisher Softheads have neutral buoyancy and fit Micro Tube, Nano Tube, Flexitube 40/40, Classic Medium tubing, and standard hooks.
Best for: Eyes, the Tabbed Eyes tie in with a tab, the Cool Eyes are flat adhesive eyes, and the Attitude Eyes are 3D eyes for predator flies. The Junglecock HD is a synthetic jungle cock substitute.
Best for: Shrimp flies, the Shrimpshell, Shrimp Shell Skeletor, and Gammarus Saltwater Shellback; for baitfish bodies and wings, the pre-cut Candy, Anchovy, and Sandeel Foils.
Why Trident Carries Pro Sportfisher
Pro Sportfisher started in Denmark in 2007 with the idea that tube fly components should fit each other without guesswork, and the system still does that better than mixing tubing and cones from different sources. Now part of Ahrex Hooks, its eyes, foils, and shrimp shells are also shop staples for saltwater tiers who never tie a tube fly.
Materials & Durability
- Plastic tubes hold up: Flexitube, Micro Tubes, and Classic tubing do not corrode and survive being chewed on. The thick-walled Predator XL is the one for pike and musky.
- Brass weights and discs: Cones, Drop Weights, Raw Weights, and Ultra Sonic Discs are metal and will tarnish in salt. Rinse flies after saltwater use and dry them before boxing.
- Softheads are neutral: They neither float nor sink on their own, so sink rate comes from your weights and line. Plan the weight before you fit the head.
- Hook guides stretch: Replace a silicone guide once a hook eye no longer seats firmly in it.
Complete Your Setup
Related Gear
- Tube Fly Tying Supplies - Other tubes, junction tubing, and vise adapters.
- Salmon & Steelhead Hooks - Short-shank, straight-eye stinger hooks that fit the Pro hook guides.
- Fly Tying Beads, Cones & Eyes - More coneheads and eyes to compare with the Pro system.
- Fly Tying Synthetics - Soft wing and body materials for tube flies.
Related Guides
- How to Choose the Best Steelhead Flies
- How to Tie the Hollow Fleye Squid
- How to Tie a Surf Candy Saltwater Streamer Fly
- How To Tie The Dyret
- How to Tie the Fox Fur Baitfish: Step-by-Step Guide
Pro Sportfisher Tube Fly Materials FAQs
Q: What is the Pro Sportfisher tube fly system?
A: A set of tubes, weights, cones, discs, hook guides, heads, and needles designed to fit together. Most components are keyed to a 2.2mm tube, so parts bought for one Pro tube fit the others.
Q: Which Pro Sportfisher tube should a beginner start with?
A: The Flexitube 40/40. The hook guide is molded into the tube, so you tie on the front 40mm, trim the back 40mm to length, and push in a hook.
Q: Do I need Pro Sportfisher Hook Guides with every tube?
A: No. Hook Guides are made for the Micro Tube and Nano Tube, which have no built-in guide. Flexitube already has one, and Classic tubing is usually paired with a separate junction tube.
Q: Which Flexineedle size fits which Pro Sportfisher tube?
A: Pro Sportfisher lists the Small needle (110mm) for Nano, Micro, and 1.4mm Classic tubing, the Large (120mm) for Nano, Micro, Flexitube, and 2.2mm Classic tubing, and the Extra Large for predator tubes.
Q: What is the difference between Ultra Sonic Discs and Soft Sonic Discs?
A: Ultra Sonic Discs are vented brass, so they add some weight along with the water-pushing effect. Soft Sonic Discs are reinforced plastic, very light, and meant to add movement and prop up wings without sinking the fly.
Q: Can I use Pro Sportfisher eyes and foils on regular hook flies?
A: Yes. The eyes, Junglecock HD, shrimp shells, and foils all work on standard hooks, and Softheads fit standard hooks as well as tubes.
Pro Sportfisher Warranty & Resources
Pro Sportfisher does not publish a warranty for its tube components and materials, which are consumables. If a pack from Trident arrives short, damaged, or with parts that do not fit as described, contact us and we will replace it. Pro Sportfisher's site explains the tube system and each product family.
Learn More from Pro Sportfisher
- Pro Sportfisher Tube System - Overview of the tubes and how the weight system integrates with them.
- Pro Sportfisher Tube Weights - Cones, Drop Weights, Flexi Weights, and Raw Weights.
- Pro Sportfisher Tools - Flexineedle details and sizes.
- About Pro Sportfisher - Company background from its 2007 start in Denmark to its place within Ahrex Hooks.