Dubbing a body

I'm a novice at fly tying and watch all of the videos on TPO and others and when they dub the fly body the come up with nice tight tapered body. When I do I never get that nice tight uniformed tapered body. It always seem I can see where ever I stopped and added dubbing to the thread to continue forward. Any suggestions on forming nice even uniformed dubbed bodies?

Add dubbing wax to the thread or you can always use spit! If you twist the dubbing tight you should be able to get a nice tapered body. I used to have a lot of difficulty with nymph bodies when I tying, but the addition of dubbing wax helped greatly.

[quote author=AaronJasper link=topic=4356.msg34280#msg34280 date=1271900543]
Add dubbing wax to the thread or you can always use spit! If you twist the dubbing tight you should be able to get a nice tapered body. I used to have a lot of difficulty with nymph bodies when I tying, but the addition of dubbing wax helped greatly.
[/quote]

Great, when I first strated tying I used wax but then I read or didn't see anyone on the videos using it so I started to do with out. It must be the power of video to edit or left out the same stuff. LOL

Less is more. And usually less than less is more.

Start twisting the dubbing at the top and work down. If you use your thumb and forefinger, twist downwards on an angle with your forefinger. This usually keeps pushing the bulk of the dubbing down the thread as you twist, leaving it thin at the top and fatter at the bottom.

If you want really tight bodies, dub your thread like you would a #20 midge and make 2-4 layers. Dubbing your flies this way makes them last longer since the dubbing doesn't get picked out as much from the fishes teeth.


Mike

thanks guys

Less is more indeed. You can always add more dubbing, that's easy. Taking it off is a real bitch though sometimes. Also, there's no written rule that says you can't go back over the same wrap you just made to help taper the dubbing more, that works fine as well.

look at this!
Its got every thing on dubbing.
http://ukflydressing.proboards.com/i...ad=4046&page=1

I tie a lot of small flies and need to be precise with the body, because there really is no room for extra stuff. As said already less is more, a little spit is good, and i found that after you get a couple wraps of your "noodle" turned on to the hook, give it a few more spins to get in nice and tight.

Keep at it and have fun,

Brough

Many years ago l did a video related to dubbing techniques, more or less the link here depicts that video, maybe l should have some new copies done in DVD format.
In the case of using the split thread techniques which l developed and wrote about in the 70s for many of my fly patterns the only thread of worth is Danvilles FM 6/0. UTC is ok to a point.
Many others cannot be used for this technique.

Any way the deal is this so far as dubbing, which l might add is one of the more difficult fly tying techniques to master.

Pretty much you should be able to dub any material on copper wire. The thread is only a core that allows you to build around it the dubbed form and then wind it to form the fly body. No different to a copper wire core.

Materials do differ, those that are compressible such as rabbit fur are a little more easy to use compared to those that are short, spiky and wiry.

Also the choice of thread you use may make life difficult. For general trout fly work in my book the best out there is Danvilles flymaster 6/o, next to that UTC 70.
I dislike threads that have no elasticity, as this is also very important, the tension you apply to the thread during the process of building the dubbed form is more important than most realise.

Wax, never use it with one exception, which is when l wish to form a touch dubbed body.
The ideal dubbed body should have a medium of fly away effect. Wax has the effect of compressing these values, it has also other adverse effects.
It is at the end of the day knowing how to use both the left and right hand in conjunction when building the dubbing form.

Absolutely the most important thing is pre preparation of the dubbing material before it gets even close to the thread.
Secondly is to have only the exact amount you need, which does take practice and many flies of the same nature tyed. Better to add than have to strip excess off, which will never result in a good fly body.

May be we can do some dubbing tying techniques this fall. It is very diffcult to explain dubbing, visual is the way to go.

Davy.

FYI. Here is a link to an unbelievable amount of info on dubbing and techniques:

http://ukflydressing.proboards.com/i...ay&thread=4046

[quote author=afishinado link=topic=4356.msg34722#msg34722 date=1273232680]
FYI. Here is a link to an unbelievable amount of info on dubbing and techniques:

http://ukflydressing.proboards.com/i...ay&thread=4046
[/quote]

That there proves no one looks at my links! :o ???
I just put that up. ;D

I dig the idea of blending cdc fibers in the dubbing... cdc+superfine could make a killer dry fly body.

And I love the look of that Law vice... I want one of those bad

[quote author=Bowtech link=topic=4356.msg34277#msg34277 date=1271896153]
I'm a novice at fly tying and watch all of the videos on TPO and others and when they dub the fly body the come up with nice tight tapered body. When I do I never get that nice tight uniformed tapered body. It always seem I can see where ever I stopped and added dubbing to the thread to continue forward. Any suggestions on forming nice even uniformed dubbed bodies?
[/quote]

This seems to be a popular topic because I just answered a simlar question on this SEFF.

http://www.southeastflyfishingforum....ax-t35792.html

I also wrote wrote an tying "tip" that describes the dubbing technique I use. It was published in Fly Tyer Magazine in 2002. I suggest you try this technique before giving up on traditional dubbing.

Here is the article:

"Noted Wisconsin fly tyer Royce Dam taught me the single most helpful dubbing technique I have ever learned. It’s a technique for dubbing tight dry fly bodies without using dubbing wax. I’d like to pass it on. The directions are for a right-handed tyer. Lefties will need to make the reversal.

I am assuming that you wrap thread around the hook in the normal fashion by wrapping away from yourself over the top of the hook and then back underneath, and so on. Wrap the hook with thread, tie in a tail and take the tread back to the back of the hook so that you are ready to dub the body. Do not wax the thread.

For a right-hander, dub the fur clockwise on the thread as seen from the top of the hook. The clockwise direction is critical, as you will see later. Taper the dubbing noodle so that you have a fine dubbing tip at the top of the thread. Unwrap one or two wraps of thread from the tie in point and push the dubbing up the thread so that the fine point of dubbing is at the tie in point. If you wax the thread, the dubbing will stick to the thread, and it will be difficult to advance it up the thread to the tie in point.


Take one or two wraps of thread to fix the tip of dubbing at the tie in point. This wrap traps the end of the dubbing so that is cannot spin free. Grasp the bottom end of the dubbing noodle, and dub/twist it clockwise on the thread. It should spin around the thread getting tighter and tighter since the tip is fixed under the first wrap. Hold on to the bottom of the dubbing so that it cannot untwist and wrap your dubbing forward on the hook. With each wrap of the thread, the dubbing and thread will twist tighter and tighter so that you end up with a very tight, compact and tapered body.

The wax-less technique takes advantages of the fact that as you wind the dubbing around the hook shank, you introduce an additional twist into the dubbing. The dubbing twists one revolution for each wrap. The secret to forming a tightly dubbed body is to use this additional twisting to your advantage."

For nymphs allow the dubbing to untwist as you wrap to get just the amount of bugginess rather than a tight compact body.

You can precisely control the diameter of the dubbing as you wind. Without wax you can push the dubbing up the thread to widen the dubbing noodle or pull down to narrow the dubbing. Or you can twisting tighter if you used too much dubbing to narrow the body or allowing it to untwist to widen it. By using these two additional techniques you get exactly the tapered body you want."

[quote author=xXFLYFISHXx link=topic=4356.msg34730#msg34730 date=1273271435]
[quote author=afishinado link=topic=4356.msg34722#msg34722 date=1273232680]
FYI. Here is a link to an unbelievable amount of info on dubbing and techniques:

http://ukflydressing.proboards.com/i...ay&thread=4046
[/quote]

That there proves no one looks at my links! :o ???
I just put that up. ;D
[/quote]


Sorry xX, I was in too much of a hurry. Carry on!

Thanks to all the posted replies. I see there are 2 schools of thought on wax on or wax off. I will try both but the general theme is LESS IS BEST and then that is probably TOO MUCH!

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