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Fly Tying
chazg

Dubbing

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Hello All, I'm in the process of purchasing some materials to tie some basic nymph patterns, and am in the process of buying some dubbing. My question is, with all the choices of dubbing out there, what is a good type/choice for a beginner to purchase. I'm kinda overwhelmed with all the different types out there. can anyone point me in the right direction, and do i need to get wax also ??? thanks..

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Hello All, I'm in the process of purchasing some materials to tie some basic nymph patterns, and am in the process of buying some dubbing. My question is, with all the choices of dubbing out there, what is a good type/choice for a beginner to purchase. I'm kinda overwhelmed with all the different types out there. can anyone point me in the right direction, and do i need to get wax also ??? thanks..

 

chaz

 

It depends greatly upon the patterns you choose to tye, but to get you started I would suggest you get a couple of patches of muskrat *(dark and light), a hare's mask (or hare's ear dubbing- light and dark), and a couple of packages of rabbit dubbing dyed olive, brown, black, tan and burnt-orange.

 

*(IMHO your best first purchase would be a full muskrat skin. It will have a nice range of shades from light grey to dark dun and should last you years.)

 

Wax serves many functions- but you don't need it to tye nymphs unless you are working with difficult dubbing. A little water or saliva on your fingertips is usually all you need. (Don't forget that most/many flytying threads come prewaxed.) Wax can be helpful, but be careful not to use too much! If you can see the wax on your thread or on your dubbing you have used way too much!

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Dubbing comes is so many different styles for a lot of reasons. Some dubbing blends are good for nymphs, and other patterns meant to sink. Other dubbing blends include a little (sometimes a lot) of flash or sparkle. Some dubbing like Ice Dubbing, is very flashy. The fine or supper fine dubbings are mostly for dry fly patterns. Fur patches can be purchased but are not the best way to get started.

 

Hair Tron, or Hair Plus from Hairline will be a good basic choice for nymph dubbing. Get the assortment. You will get 12 colors, which can be blended together to make other colors. The amount of each color won't be quite as much as you would get in each individual package, but you will have a full assortment.

 

Superfine dubbing in a similar assortment will be what you would want to get for tying floating patterns.

 

Wax from either Rumphf or Wapsi will be fine. You don't HAVE to purchase wax, but you may find out that it helps in some situations. So get just one can or tube. I am still working on my 25 year old tube of dubbing wax. A little goes a long way. The same goes for the dubbing. When you think you have the right amount, cut that in half, and then take half of that.

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I recently got some Alpaca, poly, and Hare's ear dubbing packs, and practicing, I've found the Hare's ear easiest to work with :)

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