dry fly dubbings

[William of Bask]

Hello,

I am a novice fly tyer, and just trying to figure out which brand is a good choice for dry fly dubbing.

I am particularly interested in synthetic and silk dubbings. The brands I have in mind are Wapsi Superfine, Fly-Rite Extra-Fine Poly, Spirit River Fine and Dry, Kreinik Silk Dubbing, and Angler's Choice Pure Silk Dubbing. Especially, I am looking for dry fly dubbing that has finest & long fibers and natural translucency.

There are so many brands in the market that advertise themselves as the best dry fly dubbing, and this is confusing or even overwhelming to a novice fly tyer like me when choosing particular one. Could you give me some directions or suggestions? Your opinions are appreciated.

In addition, do you know a kind of dubbing that becomes translucent when hit by the sun light or awash in the surface film? I heard that silk dubbing and Wapsi Superfine dubbing are translucent, but I would like to have more accurate information.

Have a good day.

[Ouzel]

invented by a tyer who ran out of yarn and cliped fuzz from his carpet.

Yarns come in as many colors, textures, grades, etc. and in my opinion faster/easier to apply to a hook.

[carpman]

Yarn is great for larger flies, but dubbing works much better for smaller patterns.

Personally I like Wapsi superfine best. Spirit River fine and dry is also great dubbing. Both are reasonably priced, and should be available at most shops.........

[Trout4x]

Jason showed me the Super fine # 2 has 12 colors in a nice little box. It wraps very tight and I would highly recommend it. I purchased mine at High Country, I know you could find it at other fly shops as well.

[Rod Hog]

is without question the best small dry fly dubbing. Colors are pretty good. Some other dubbings come close, but go with Super Fine and you won't be disappointed.

[jdubya]

not a bad way to start is to buy some prepacked dubbing cases. You can get a wide variety from feathercraft.com, and these can be rabbit based, synthetic based, angora based, etc. They come in all of the required colors, 6, 9 or 12 colors per pack usually, don't cost that much, and you will have a long time supply.

The down side is that once you quit being a "novice" you may want larger bags of the types that you really like, or you may start mixing your own from various hides, rabbit masks, etc.

I actually do all three: prepacked mixes, specific bags, and "roll your own" depending upon my need and mood.

Amd if you order from feathercraft you get on their mailing list which is also part of that maturation step of "novice" to "old fart".

[flyty]

"In addition, do you know a kind of dubbing that becomes translucent when hit by the sun light or awash in the surface film?"

Sorry, they don't make it, and I don't think mayflies get translucent when "hit by sun light or awash in the surface film" anyway. Polar bear and seal may have those properties, but there are severe restrictions on harvesting those furs, and they aren't appropriate for dry fly dubbing. Antron dubbings like Superfine have long strands and sparkle; and SLF (synthetic living fiber) dubbing has some translucent fibers, but it's a coarse dubbing used for nymphs and it's way too spiky for drys.

Just last year, I think it was Nature's Spirit came out with some super fine dry fly dubbing(non-antron). Mike gave me some to try at a fly tying meeting last year(thanks again Mike!), and the strands are extremely long and fine, but to tell you the truth, I didn't find I could dub it any finer than the beaver dubbing assortment I have, and it's pretty expensive at $3.50, but you do get a huge quantity.

I know when I was first looking at dubbings, beaver dubbing was the type I decided was the finest of the natural dubbings that was available, and I bought an assortment in a plastic dispenser box at Orvis, but I decided I hate those boxes. It's too hard to pick the dubbing out, and it's much easier to deal with a package of dubbing. My box dispenser has 12 colors and I think it was $15, but you can buy 12 individual packs of dubbing for less than that, and you get about 5 times as much in each pack. It's much easier to get dubbing out of the individual packs, and you can buy the colors you want, although when you're beginning you might not know what colors you're going to need.

I suggest you start buying a few dubbing colors you know you need and add colors as the patterns you want to tie require. I think my favorite fine dry fly dubbing is Spirit River Fine and Dry Dubbing. It's an antron dubbing(so it sparkles) and it dubs very fine, so if you don't mind synthetics, try one color of the Spirit River Fine and Dry and see how you like it.

Also, check out this great article on fly tying materials:

http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/ssmaterials/

which I think is the definitive resource for just about any material you have a question about.

[nhancock]

I swear by Antron. Antron yarn has long fibers and can be mixed with Antron dubbing. Antron also has some translucent qualities as well as a little sparkle.

I just baught a prepackaged kit at Lone Peak in American Fork. It has 10-12 different colors of Antron in a dispenser and it was $10.

[Larry S.]

......... they have a special going on "Soft Dub". This is a very good dubbing that I have used in place of Lafontaine's touch dubbing.

[Splat]

I also agree that antron gives you a great translucent dubbing and can be combined with any dubbing material you like the best.

[Utah DaveII]

The dubbing that I really like for small flies is Superifine. I especially like the Callibaetis, and Gray olive dubbings. Adams Grey is a little too dark for me, but I have it and use it.

Another dubbing that I have grown to like is the New X-Dub from Blue Ribbon in West Yellowstone.

If I am looking for a buggy look on my flies (Iris Caddis, Stimulator, and some EHC) I go with the Zelon dubbing out of blue ribbon Flies. The Zelon gives the fly some translucency and traps airbubles which are a necessity on caddis patterns.

One of teh best dubbing materials ever is not a dubbing at all, but use lots of peacock herl.

The other thing I do onb some of my full bodied hackled flies like Bi-visible and griffiths gnats and some elk hairs is to not use dubbing at all, but use thread or floss for my body. These flies seem to work great.

Well Tehre are som ideas and I hope they help.