The Novice Fly Tyer - Choosing Dubbing  

I remember well when I first started tying flies in the late 1960’s. What is now known as “The Fly Fishing Renaissance” was just getting under way. Fly fishing had been through a sort of dark ages since the rise of spin fishing in the early 50’s, and at that point the sport was considered far too arcane for the sport fishing industry to take much notice of. Choices in both fly fishing and fly tying products were rather limited. It was largely a matter of searching for a product that would suffice for one’s needs and hoping to find something that would do. Choice was pretty much a non-issue. This is in sharp contrast to the fly fishing market today, when it’s all too easy to find literally anything you could possibly want and a great many things you never would have thought of. The dilemma for today’s fly fisher or tyer, particularly the novice, is to choose well from a myriad of possibilities.

Nowhere is this more true than in the case of dubbing. When I started out, dubbing came in the form of fur-on-skin. Sometimes you could find a limited selection of dyed furs, but most were natural. If you wanted a color that nature did not provide, especially if you were fussy about shades, you usually had to dye it yourself. I used to do a fair amount of this, but haven’t done any dyeing for years. It’s simply no longer necessary.

A beginner confronted with the dubbing display at any well-stocked fly shop is bound to be bewildered by the array of choices. We have gone from the days of all dubbing being fur-on-skin to the point where it’s difficult to find dubbing in that form. Now we have row upon row of ziploc bags full of prepared dubbing all ready to go on the thread. There are natural fibers and synthetic fibers of various kinds, blends of natural and synthetic fibers, with various degrees of flashiness, in colors ranging from dull “earth tones” to screaming fluorescent. 

Magazine articles intended to provide instruction and inspiration often confuse the issue for the beginner even further by recommending a particular name brand product in the recipe for a fly pattern. In reality, it’s very rare that the choice of material is absolutely critical to the tying or performance of a fly. But substitution seems to be anathema to many beginner to intermediate level tyers. It’s wise to consider the motivation of an author in insisting on a particular tying material. In such cases the article may be a thinly veiled “infomercial” designed to sell you something the author is pitching rather than what you actually need. 

So what is the novice tyer to do? It may prove helpful to understand some basic concepts about dubbing so that you can make informed choices in what products you choose to buy. That will be the thrust of this article. As with all matters in fly fishing, choice of tying materials is a personal matter subject to preference and prejudice. What follows is my opinion, but is as objective as I can make it. 

Let’s talk first a bit about natural versus synthetic dubbing. I prefer natural dubbing in most cases, simply because I find it easier to work with. But synthetic dubbing has some distinct advantages. It is not attractive to insect pests such as clothes moths or carpet beetles, which can infest any natural material such as fur, hair, or feathers. These pests find synthetic materials inedible and so ignore them. Many tyers value synthetic dubbing, particularly Antron, for its inherent sparkle. This is thought to suggest the light-catching properties of insect wings or bodies. You can purchase rabbit dubbing that has a bit of Antron mixed in, under the brand name Hare-Tron among others. This gives you the sparkle of the synthetic along with the improved handling of a natural dubbing that acts as a binder. 

My biggest objection to synthetic dubbing is that it tends to “rope up” or tangle if you get too much material on the thread and attempt to remove it. It’s difficult to describe this phenomenon, but you’ll know exactly what I mean once you’ve experienced it. With natural dubbing, it’s quick and easy to simply pluck off the excess. With just a little minor touch-up, you are ready to continue on with the next step of the fly.

Whether natural or synthetic, dubbings come in various degrees of fineness or coarseness. Generally, you want a finer dubbing for small flies. This enables you to easily create a smooth, thin body that is in proportion to a tiny hook. Conversely, a coarser dubbing is best suited to larger flies where you need the material to build up quickly to form a substantial body. Also, larger nymphs often benefit from a rough, shaggy body that is easiest to achieve with a coarse dubbing. 

My personal preference for fine work is beaver dubbing. Its fibers are very soft and easy to control, and excess is easy to remove from the thread. Those who favor synthetic dubbings often use a small denier Antron, of the name brand “Fine and Dry” or something similar. This product works well as long as you don’t get more than you need on the thread. See above. 

If there is an “all purpose” dubbing, it’s rabbit. Rabbit dubbing is inexpensive and easy to use. It can be dubbed down fairly fine, yet will also build bulk fairly quickly when desired. Prepared rabbit dubbing usually has guard hairs mixed in. These are the longer, coarser hairs that form the outer surface of the animal’s hair coat. Left in, they provide a shaggy, “buggy” looking body on a nymph. If you want a smoother dubbed body, you can pluck the guard hairs from a pinch of dubbing before applying it to the thread. Or use fine-point tweezers to pluck out any stray guard hairs from the body after the fly is finished, or simply cut the unwanted hairs close with scissors.

You could easily meet 90+ percent of your dubbing needs with just rabbit and perhaps beaver for the really small stuff. But it’s fun to experiment with other materials, and never hesitate to do so. Almost any fibrous material that can be coaxed onto a thread can be used as dubbing. Old fur coats, furrier’s trimmings, etc. can bring you some excellent dubbing. You can even shred yarn, natural or synthetic, to make dubbing. The possibilities for dubbing sources and techniques are limited only by your imagination and ingenuity. I hope this article gives you a point of departure for your own explorations. Happy tying!

---Mary S. Kuss--
Autumn 2007 Issue