Fly-tying materials and their uses - Part I

By Murray Pedder

Over the last ten years or so there has been an explosion of new materials and techniques being made available
to the fly-tyer. Some of these materials have caught on while others have all but disappeared. Fly-tyers in general do not always know or understand the many uses that these new materials, and even the more traditional materials, offer. In the first of a three part series, I will discuss some of the more common, and not so obvious, uses of certain materials that are available on the South African market, and explain a range of techniques that you may or may not be aware of.

Dubbing and dubbing materials

Dubbing probably constitutes the largest selection of materials available in the way of colours, textures and techniques. The use of dubbing is responsible for many headaches at the vice, and here are some tips that should go a long way in helping the average tyer to improve their dubbing techniques.

Most fly-tyers starting out are aware of the most commonly used dubbing technique which we call “direct dubbing.” Direct dubbing is defined as the application of dubbing to a single strand of thread, using the thumb and forefinger in a twisting motion and in one direction. The more coarse the dubbing material and the longer the individual strands that make up the dubbing, the more difficult it will be to apply to the thread. Some dubbings (such as rabbit and squirrel) are easy to apply, as opposed to Antron and seal’s fur, which are relatively difficult. Here are some things to remember:

• The biggest error normally made is using too much dubbing at a time.
  Rather select small amounts of dubbing. You can always add more at a later stage.
• Slack thread is very difficult to dub onto. Keep your thread taught.
• Pinch the dubbing out of the packet or dispenser. Never pull it slowly out of the packet as this lines the dubbing fibres up and causes a noodle effect. This makes it very difficult to obtain an even distribution of dubbing around the thread.
• When using long, course fibre dubbing, run your scissors through the dubbing a few times, cutting the fibres shorter and at different lengths.
• Keep a Pritt Stick handy as this will help apply some of the really stubborn dubbings. Use the Pritt sparingly because too much will leave dubbing and glue all over your fingers and none on the thread.

I use a coffee bean grinder to mix different dubbings, and cut long fibre dubbing to varying lengths before mixing. If you tie a lot of nymphs and use a lot of dubbing, this is a tool you must get. The colour mixings you can achieve quickly are endless. Some of the more complex dubbing compositions require eight or more colours to be mixed, and this takes a lot of time when mixing by hand. The coffee grinder does the mixing in seconds, and achieves a more even blend.

Dubbing loops (thread and wire)

For bigger flies and when wanting to achieve a rough, shaggy-looking fly, the dubbing loop technique is the best choice. You will need a dubbing twister of some sort, either manual or machine. A simple homemade tool and true rotary vice work very well for copper wire core brushes. If you are going to attempt dubbing brushes, take care to select the right dubbing. Long stranded, soft dubbings are no good. Dubbings with shorter fibres and guard hairs such as squirrel, rabbit, beaver etc. are all good choices. Synthetics such as Superbrite and Caddis Life Cycle from Wapsi also work well. Basically you must choose coarse, short fibre dubbings to achieve the best results. Larger nymph and leech patterns are excellent candidates for the dubbing loop technique.

Dust dubbing

The late Gary Lafontaine is the only tyer I am aware of who used dust dubbing to great effect in many of his caddis patterns. The technique is as follows:
First, a roll of Pritt or tacky dubbing wax is needed. Some fine, spiky dubbing is then chopped up into small lengths (approx. 1mm). The thread is treated with wax or Pritt, and then the dubbing is simply dusted onto the thread. Attention to thread colour is important, as the resultant body shows the thread slightly, which achieves a nice translucent body.

Common combinations are:

• Yellow thread and olive dubbing
• Red thread and black dubbing
• White thread and grey dubbing
• Rust thread and brown dubbing

The effects Gary achieved were, to the human eye, not that impressive. But the fish seemed to love them.

My favourite dubbings are the following:

Superbrite (Wapsi), Squirrel (Wapsi), Ice dub (Hareline), Natural Rabbit (Wapsi), Flashabou dub or enhancer (Heddron & Wapsi). (This is used to add flash and translucence to dubbing mixes.)

Other tools you should have if you are serious about dubbing are:

• Dubbing teasers: Fine tooth teaser and homemade
   Velcro stick.
• Dubbing twister: Hook type and loop type.
• Dubbing dispensers to put all your dubbing mixes
   into.
• Bull Dog clips for holding long fibre dubbings
   together during dubbing loop techniques.

Marabou: One of my favourite materials has to
be marabou. It has a built-in action that when in the water, makes it undulate in a way that is very enticing to fish. Patterns such as the Woolly Bugger, Dragon Bugger, Marabou Damsel and many others owe much of their success to this built-in action. The marabou commonly available is turkey marabou, consisting of two types: strung marabou and Woolly Bugger marabou. Strung marabou has long, fine fibres with varying flue lengths, while Woolly Bugger marabou is shorter and a lot fuller in its make-up. Both types are very useful. The Woolly Bugger marabou is used as it is described, for Woolly Bugger tails. This is not to say it cannot be used in other applications. The same is true for strung marabou. Strung marabou, however, is better suited to salt water applications and for body wrapping or plaited bodies, extended bodies and streamer wings.

Common tailing techniques: When using marabou as a tail material, never tie the marabou tail longer than the shank of the hook. If you do wish to make the tail longer (Dragon Bugger and Blood Worm patterns) then a hair support should be tied in under the tail.

To do this, proceed as follows: Tie in a short length of deer hair to match the colour of the tail under the marabou tail. Then tie in the marabou, keeping the tail the same length as the shank. Using a support tail stops the marabou from wrapping around the bend of the hook and spoiling the presentation while casting. Never cut marabou to length as this spoils its natural look. Rather pinch the marabou shorter with a fingernail to keep it looking natural.

Self Hackle Streamer	Self Hackle Streamer tying tips
	Tie in marabou by its tip	Wind marabou forward and double hackle as you go

Dubbing with marabou: Woolly Bugger marabou dubs really well. Pinch and break the marabou up and dub to the thread using the direct dubbing technique. A dubbing loop can also be used to create a rough leech or streamer pattern.

Winding marabou: Strung marabou is available in mini marabou lengths for winding as a hackle to form a body. Gartside’s Soft Hackle Streamer is a good example of winding marabou, and creates a very effective pattern. I often use this technique for bass and salt flies.

Plaiting marabou: Lengths of strung marabou can be plaited to achieve extended bodies etc. The effect is eye pleasing and has a lot of action, but it is time consuming. It is not a technique I personally use that often. Do not try this with Woolly Bugger marabou.

Building bodies: Janssen’s Dragon is a good example of bodybuilding with marabou. Lengths of Woolly Bugger marabou are used, stacked and tied encircling the entire hook. The marabou is then pinched to length to give the dragon nymph shape. This pattern has so much built-in movement that fish often pick it up as it sinks, or even while fishing it static.

Wing cases and shellbacks: I tie certain mayfly nymphs using marabou along the length of the body and wing case to achieve the gill effect and natural movement typical of these nymphs. The marabou is tied in using tippet material or copper wire to protect and anchor it.

Dragon Bugger	Dragon Bugger tying steps
	Step 1	Step 2
Step 3	Step 4	Step 5

 
The next time you purchase marabou, consider the application for which you wish to
use it, and a whole new marabou world will open up to you. It is often difficult to explain certain aspects of tying with words, so I hope the illustrations and sketches will help. In the next article we will discuss the many uses of deer belly and body hair, Krystal Flash and Flashabou, some synthetics and quill fibre.