Rigging the Tube
Crucial to Waller's setup is that the knot from the double surgeon's loop becomes the stopper to keep the hook in place. With a thin tube and a double surgeon's knot on most brands of tippet over 12-pound-test, this is not a problem.

If you use larger-diameter tubes or lighter tippets, you can create a stopper with a 3/32" metal or plastic bead commonly used in trout nymphs. Choose beads that don't have rough edges that can wear through tippets. First, string the tippet through the tube. Then thread the tippet through the small hole in your 3/32" bead. Allow the bead to slip through the tippet down the leader and tie a double surgeon's loop (either with or without the hook, see steps for rigging the tube.) The knot can slide into the larger hole of the bead but not through the smaller hole and the bead forms the stopper. This is a good idea, but Waller's system is more functional and easier to rig on-stream.

Thread the tag end of the leader through the front of the tube fly.

Slide the tube down the leader and tie a double surgeon's loop big enough to slip over the hook.

Pinch the loop and thread it through the eye of the hook and then slide the loop over the hook and pull it tight.

Pull the knot into the tube or junction tubing.

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Jay Nichols was the managing editor of Fly Fisherman when he wrote this article for the Feb. 2005 issue. He lives in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania.

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