Scuds

[Danoinark 0]

I tie and fish alot of scuds, but for the life of me, I can never get the legs picked out or velcroed out the way you gents do. I am not sure it really makes that much of a difference, but my "picked" legs are never uniform or I break thread or ribbing when I do. What's the secret?

Dano

[day5 0]

Try hackling it with ostrich herl! light grey

[harleyhunter 0]

Make a dubbing loop with partride hackle in it (barred feathers) twist and pluck the tips out. Now hackle the scud and then add backing and ribbing. Thats the Oliver Edwards method.

 

-Sam

[RunninDetox 0]

I just twist seal fur onto the thread and wrap it. Then I take my needle and pick it, but be sure to go parallel with the thread and I have never had a problem doing it this way. I usually try and pick out more than I like than trim the bottom with scissors for more uniform. Works well for me, I would give it a try, worst case scenario, it doesn't work out for you!

 

Good Luck!

Jay

[Fishhead_Flytyer 0]

A real big part of making them look right is just selecting the right dubbing. When I pick out dubbing I like something with a bunch of guard hairs. So squirrel or a synthetic blend.

 

If you want to use a soft dubbing try it in a dubbing loop. When you go to put the dubbing in the loop, Pinch it tightly in your fingers and pull it out. This will orient the fibers in one direction. Lie the perpendicular to your waxed thread and just stick them in there till you have enough. Then pull your thread tight with no twist and trim to the length you want the body. Your scissors will have to have a nice edge for this to work

 

Dubbing a little looser than you normally would makes a difference.

 

Something else you might want to try is to pick all the dubbing out before you put the back on or rib it. the trick I have found here is to wiggle your rib back and forth when you wrap it forward. This will make it trap less hairs as you wrap forward.

 

Just a Trick with ostrich herl, when you tie in add a small piece of mono thread and twist the mono and herl together before you wrap it. This makes for a pretty durable fly.

 

TIght Lines

 

[Bruce Derington 0]

Dano, Several years ago Poul Jorgenson showed me one of his favorate tools, I made one up and over the years its become one of mine als. Its a eye brush(avon or mableliene) and can be found in any drugstore in the cosmetics isle, yeah you might wonder why I know this BUT thats not important anyways, simply get a piece of velcro(male hooklet) and stick it on the end. See attached. These little hooklets make a fantastic dubbing tool that won't break your finer materials when you pull out the legs or throats of your flies. The other end is great for combing out underfur or brushing out collars, give it try, It will be one of the least expensive but most popular tools in your box Bruce

[maddog48 0]

Brother Dano... I made my own dubbing tool. I got some of the Fly Reel Dots to try out as an aid to tying with my arthritis. I superglued on on a popsicle stick and now have a handy little dubbing brush.

 

 

Mike

[flypimp 0]

Hey Bruce, I just stole my wife's make-up brush(I'll buy her a new one) . Thanks for the Idea works great.

 

Flypimp

[Danoinark 0]

Thanks everybody for the great ideas. I will try em all.....Dano

[bigbrookie 0]

I use the wire brush for my .22 rifle to tease dubbing or hair from under the rib on my scuds