Dubbing

[Traditionalist]

Dubbing is an old term, and usually means applying fur to the thread before winding it onto the hook shank. This simulates the translucent and sometimes hairy bodies of some insects very well indeed. The material used is also referred to as dubbing. There are some older patterns and books, which use the term "dubbing" to mean winding herl or similar material on to the fly body, usually as a rib.

When dubbing colours are given for various flies, it is better to obtain the shade required by blending two or three various dubbings . For instance, brown and maroon wool or fur for the "winter Brown" or "green and yellow wool or fur for the "green insect". The effect thus obtained is more natural and usually more successful as far as catching fish is concerned.

Obtain a piece of velcro tape, the male type with all the small hooks on it, cut a small piece of this and glue it to a small piece of stick, use this for fluffing up dubbing etc.




For dubbing fly bodies, materials such as Hare fur, Seal fur, Mohair and many others, were used extensively, practically any fur can be used, but of course the properties make some furs more suitable for certain purposes than others. For wet flies ordinary wool may be used, although it lacks the translucence of some other natural furs. It is however easily obtainable in many colours, and is easy to work with. It is not so good for dry flies either, as it soaks up water too easily, causing the flies to sink quickly. This may be remedied to a considerable extet by using the right floatant.

Some good selections of premixed dubbing are available at tackle shops etc. Squirrel fur mixed with Antron can be quite good for some things, these come packed in special boxes of assorted colours, and are usually quite good value, as far as such things can be good value. Most keen amateurs and many professional dressers prefer to mix their own, as effects and shades may be obtained to match natural insect colouring more closely, and of even greater importance, the properties of the material are then known!

A coffee grinder is often used for blending dubbing, and works very well



Another method is to put the fur you wish to blend in a screw top jar half full of water and shake the jar vigorously, pour the result through a piece of ladies stocking or other fine mesh net, and put the resulting heap of fur on some clean newspaper to dry, this method has the advantage of being able to see the colour you get when the dubbing is wet! When the lump is dry you may pull off amounts of the perfectly blended fur as required.




There are various other methods of dubbing. A popular one at the moment is the so called "twisted loop" technique. A piece of thread is tied in so that it forms a loop hanging down from the hook, small bunches of fur are placed in the loop, and the whole thing twisted with a crochet hook or similar placed in the loop, this twists the fur between the thread and makes a nice hairy body;



There are also special dubbing twirlers available for dubbing loops. A piece of spring steel wire bent to form a small double hook and glued into a piece of wood or metal works perfectly well however. (see illustration, from left to right, Velcro stick, dubbing twister, dubbing twirler).



One may also use a split thread technique for finer fur and smaller bodies, this gives less bulk, than a thread loop. One may also make fur hackles using this and the dubbing loop technique.

Another method is to use fine copper wire looped around a small headless nail in a block of wood. Which is then referred to as a "dubbing block". The fur is placed on one strand of the wire, the other strand of wire folded over and pulled tight, and the whole thing is twisted together to form a furry rope, this can be tied in and wound like thread, and the wire ribbing is then integrated! This works best on larger flies, as it is really too bulky for small flies. One may of course use thread for this as well.



Yet another method is to chop up the fur etc. very finely, and taking a good pinch of it touch the waxed thread lightly with this pinch. One may also simply use a paper glue stick for this. It is easier, quicker, and more effective than using tacky wax.This makes a very fine hairy translucent body. The most effective flies are usually those which are tied very sparsely indeed, and where the dubbing is so sparse that the silk shines through underneath the dubbing. There are some exceptions to this though.

Mole fur dubbed on yellow silk was a favourite of some English wet fly experts. The "dubbing bag" of a good dresser at the turn of the century in England would have contained Moleskin, Mouse skins of various types, Water Vole, Hedgehog , Fox, Squirrel, and Hare obtained at different seasons of the year when their coats were of the required colour.

Very few dyed colours were used, one exception being certain feathers and furs dyed in picric acid to obtain shades of olive which are not obtainable naturally. Some of the dubbing mixes were passed down from generation to generation and kept as family secrets. They were considered essential to success, as many of these experts were subsistence fishers, it is understandable that they did not publicise their successful methods or their flies.

Various dubbing blends are often given in older books. In many modern books, one is often merely given "Grey Antron", or similar instructions!