Steve Hudson
Senior Member
First, I would like to thank you for the kind notes and emails while my wife has been hospitalized. She is doing much better, and I hope that she will be home in the next few days!
And since things are settling down on that front...
This Saturday on The Tying Bench, you'll learn how to make your own dubbing from scratch -- and then we will use some of the dubbing we make to tie a great pattern for trout!
Dubbing, that magical material used in the tying of many patterns, is a carefully crafted blend of various materials such as hair, yarn, flash, and so on. By choosing the right components, and then combining them to form a homogenous blend, you can custom-create dubbing with just about any look and feel that you desire.
During this Saturday’s session, we’ll do the following:
To get the most out of this session, you’ll want to have some materials and supplies on hand:
Hare’s mask or hair-on rabbit skin
Elk hair (natural)
Bucktail (green or brown or...?)
Very fine flash material -- Angelina fiber (a super-fine variety of flash) or Ice Dub (not a blend, but pure Ice Dub) in gold, silver, and/or peacock…or other colors)
Yarn in red, brown, black, gray, and green … or other colors! We're talking about regular yarn such as you find in craft stores.
Synthetic fibers to add additional color and texture. Many different fiber types and textures can be used. Color such as brown and black are very useful; so are greens, tans, oranges, yellows and golds…there is much room for experimentation here, as some work better in certain applications while others work better in others.
Making your own dubbing really is part science and part art. Part of the fun is choosing and blending these materials to get exactly the sort of dubbing you desire!
What you'll need in the way of tools
Craft scissors
Two wire-bristle pet grooming brushes -- the kind with those fine wire tines, and you will need two of them. My favorites are rectangular brushes with a working area measuring about 3x4 inches. Prices for these vary all over the map; the best prices I've found are at Target or Walmart or in the pet supplies section of the grocery store.
...and/or...
A small electric coffee grinder that you can dedicate to the dubbing-making operation. (I got mine at a Goodwill store for $4). Note: Do NOT use the same grinder you use for making coffee in the morning…!
(You'll learn how to use both of these systems to blend dubbing. You don't absolutely have to have both set-ups -- you can use one or the other to create the dubbing that we will make -- but the two blending systems do yield slightly different results in the finished product. I'm betting that you'll eventually want to experiment with both!)
Some small plastic bags for storing the dubbing you will create. I like 3x4 inch bags.
Tying materials for tying the flies:
Hook: Size 12 or 14 nymph hook, 1XL
Bead: Silver or gold bead suitable for the hook you’re using
Thread: Black 6/0
Ribbing: Copper- or gold-colored ribbing wire, medium-small or medium
Dubbing: Your homemade dubbing blend! If you’d rather enjoy the “tying” part using a commercially prepared dubbing blend, pick up some hare’s ear blend in brown, olive or peacock.
Hackle: Wet-fly hackle in grizzly, or a soft hen or pheasant body feather.
I hope you can join us on Saturday for this very exciting session of The Tying Bench!
Zoom login info:
Saturday, August 21, at 10 a.m. Eastern
Meeting ID: 837 4509 1177
Passcode: FlyTying07
NOTE that the passcode this week is FlyTying07 -- please note that the numeric part is "07"
If you have any questions about the materials or tools, please drop me a note. Thank you!
And since things are settling down on that front...
This Saturday on The Tying Bench, you'll learn how to make your own dubbing from scratch -- and then we will use some of the dubbing we make to tie a great pattern for trout!
Dubbing, that magical material used in the tying of many patterns, is a carefully crafted blend of various materials such as hair, yarn, flash, and so on. By choosing the right components, and then combining them to form a homogenous blend, you can custom-create dubbing with just about any look and feel that you desire.
During this Saturday’s session, we’ll do the following:
- Take a look at some of the more common components of dubbing blends – varieties, characteristics, etc.
- Learn two highly effective methods of blending dubbing components: (1) the “brushes” method and (2) the “coffee grinder” method
- Create some custom dubbing blends
- Use one of those blends to tie a great Soft-Hackle Emerger pattern!
To get the most out of this session, you’ll want to have some materials and supplies on hand:
Hare’s mask or hair-on rabbit skin
Elk hair (natural)
Bucktail (green or brown or...?)
Very fine flash material -- Angelina fiber (a super-fine variety of flash) or Ice Dub (not a blend, but pure Ice Dub) in gold, silver, and/or peacock…or other colors)
Yarn in red, brown, black, gray, and green … or other colors! We're talking about regular yarn such as you find in craft stores.
Synthetic fibers to add additional color and texture. Many different fiber types and textures can be used. Color such as brown and black are very useful; so are greens, tans, oranges, yellows and golds…there is much room for experimentation here, as some work better in certain applications while others work better in others.
Making your own dubbing really is part science and part art. Part of the fun is choosing and blending these materials to get exactly the sort of dubbing you desire!
What you'll need in the way of tools
Craft scissors
Two wire-bristle pet grooming brushes -- the kind with those fine wire tines, and you will need two of them. My favorites are rectangular brushes with a working area measuring about 3x4 inches. Prices for these vary all over the map; the best prices I've found are at Target or Walmart or in the pet supplies section of the grocery store.
...and/or...
A small electric coffee grinder that you can dedicate to the dubbing-making operation. (I got mine at a Goodwill store for $4). Note: Do NOT use the same grinder you use for making coffee in the morning…!
(You'll learn how to use both of these systems to blend dubbing. You don't absolutely have to have both set-ups -- you can use one or the other to create the dubbing that we will make -- but the two blending systems do yield slightly different results in the finished product. I'm betting that you'll eventually want to experiment with both!)
Some small plastic bags for storing the dubbing you will create. I like 3x4 inch bags.
Tying materials for tying the flies:
Hook: Size 12 or 14 nymph hook, 1XL
Bead: Silver or gold bead suitable for the hook you’re using
Thread: Black 6/0
Ribbing: Copper- or gold-colored ribbing wire, medium-small or medium
Dubbing: Your homemade dubbing blend! If you’d rather enjoy the “tying” part using a commercially prepared dubbing blend, pick up some hare’s ear blend in brown, olive or peacock.
Hackle: Wet-fly hackle in grizzly, or a soft hen or pheasant body feather.
I hope you can join us on Saturday for this very exciting session of The Tying Bench!
Zoom login info:
Saturday, August 21, at 10 a.m. Eastern
Meeting ID: 837 4509 1177
Passcode: FlyTying07
NOTE that the passcode this week is FlyTying07 -- please note that the numeric part is "07"
If you have any questions about the materials or tools, please drop me a note. Thank you!
