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bhowell

Dubbing

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I am looking at dubbing types and I am seeing a ton of different types. Do they really make a difference, and if it does, is one better than the other.

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Short answer is "yes". I regularly use 4 different dubbing techniques, often 2 on one fly, to get the effect I want.

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As far as dubbing materials, it depends on what you want to tie. You basically have natural fur/hair dubbings & synthetics. Some natural fur, such as beaver, muskrat, or otter have oils in them that aid in shedding water, so they could be used for dry flies. Fur such as rabbit soaks up water quickly, so is great for nymphs since you want them to sink. Some furs are finer than others, some coarser, so you get varying affects with each. Usually, when natural furs are dyed, some of the oils are removed in the process, so may not retain the properties they had, such as shedding water. Try to pick an appropriate material for what you want to tie. Rabbit could certainly be used for dry flies, however because it soaks up water quickly would need to be treated with floatant, so is not ideal for dry flies compared to a material that sheds water.

 

Synthetic dubbing varys greatly too, and most are often labelled for the best use. Finer synthetic dubbing is often good for dry flies, particularly for smaller sizes. There are also blends of various materials, both natural & synthetic, and each will have varying properties.

 

As far as differences, there are, but whether or not you need a lot of different dubbings is up to you based on what you tie most. You really have to use them to find out what suits you best. I don't use a lot of dubbing, rarely use synthetic dubbings and the natural fur dubbings I use are primarily rabbit fur, sometimes mixed with a synthetic to add some sparkle. I mix my own, but there are commercially made that are similar. I just prefer to blend my own to get the exact colors I desire. Either way, the end result catches fish.

 

There are various dubbing techniques too as flytire & phg have indicated and some materials are easier to use with each one.

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I am looking at dubbing types and I am seeing a ton of different types. Do they really make a difference, and if it does, is one better than the other.

If you're looking for suggestions on what to get, the type of flies you want to tie and what you fish for would be useful for us.

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They are almost all different in some way. Some are synthetic, some are natural. Some have sheen (flash) and others do not.. For the most part natural materials (ie rabbit dubbing) will soak up and actually hold water. This will slow sink rate of flies. Synthetic materials (ie ice dub) shed water and because of this have a quicker sink rate.

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That is quite a thorough link Flytire posted.

Flytire always has the best references, watch out what you ask for, sometimes it goes on and on. Once saw someone asked about a pattern and he provided , (from our data base ) , tons a examples, and I mean a bunch. He is the go to guy ! I've been tying as long as him and I use his stuff all the time!

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