diy synthetic dubbing

[chugbug27 0]

If I fished the same waters frequently I'd do my own mixes to match what's often in the water. I think that would help catch trout, a lot. Without that frequency, though, I personally haven't found the ability to make precise colors matter. Maybe someone else has a solution to that problem (besides streamside tying or just bringing a ton of flies in different colors with you), but I haven't found it. So I usually just go with general, available color mixes and hope for the best.

[dadofmolly 0]

Bought a $2 coffee grinder at the thrift store, gather yarn, floss, etc. from ladies that knit or do embroidery work along with what ever kind of fur I can find at the local thrift store. Throw in some left over thread tag ends, tinsel, flash, etc. Good majority of the mixed dubbing is used in dubbing brushes. Do I save money? about as much as I save tying my own flies or making my own furled leaders. But I enjoy seeing what I come up with and if I don't like it, then I round file it. Every once in awhile I end up with something I would not use on a regular fly but I use on a Tenkara fly that makes the fly a little more flashy than normal. Like most hobbies, I do it for me.

[dogfacedoc 0]

GF has a husky and I keep saying I'm going to use her underfur as dubbing

[SilverCreek 0]

The first time I got into making my own dubbing, was when stayed with Chuck Rizzuto at his San Juan River Lodge.

 

Chuck is the originator of the San Juan Worm.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=tsG3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT863&lpg=PT863&dq=chuck+rizutto+san+juan+river&source=bl&ots=K85sQYSVXT&sig=V7CecZYSnCRMmjXncQsGLnI75Cg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiBy4rjmM3eAhVJIKwKHRfHBToQ6AEwC3oECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=chuck%20rizutto%20san%20juan%20river&f=false

 

However on this occasion he showed me another fly, his chocolate emerger for the Baetis hatches that occurred every morning at about 11AM. The fly was a killer, taking trout after trout.

When I got home, I could not match the color of the chocolate emerger with any of my dubbing, nor did I find a good match in any of the catalogs. The perfect match was Red Heart acrylic yarn (coffee color) that I found at my local K-Mart. I cut the yarn into 2-3" strips and used a comb to comb out the yarn and made dubbing. It worked perfectly and I suspect this is the same way that Chuck made his chocolate emerger dubbing.

 

 

[DFoster 0]

I had a tri color collie that passed about 7 years ago. His under coat was perfect dubbing for an Adams dry.

 

Did I try it? You betcha, wish I still had some. Felt like he was with me every time I used an Adams.

 

My daughter's golden retriever's under coat worked great for true fly larva underneath uni clear tubing. I decided to try to get a sample from the cat cat- years of building trust gone in an instant.

[mikechell 0]

I decided to try to get a sample from the cat cat- years of building trust gone in an instant.

 

Along with a finger or two ... likely. Our cats like to have their fur removed by rigorous scrubbing. Doesn't make for a good "collection" method. Sweeping it up doesn't allow much control over quality. Given all the hassles, buying dubbing is WAY easier than collecting from a feline.

On the other hand ... I've got a huge collection of cat whiskers. I haven't decided what I am going to use them for ... but I'm set for life when I do.

[xvigauge 0]

I see that Mike and a few others either do not want to make dubbing from things that are not normally used as dubbing or they see no viable reason for doing so. I am retired so wasting time is not an issue for me. Like some others, I make dubbing just because I can and just to see how it works in the finished fly. I have an abundance of various kinds of dubbing and various things from which to make dubbing, so I don't really need to make any more, but "need" is usually not an issue. Knowing I can make something that very few people can or never will do gives me a sense of satisfaction. I don't "need" the more than 40 or so vintage fiberglass and bamboo rods I have, but they bring me joy just in having them.

Joe

[sandflyx 0]

My own blends for my shop

[rockworm 0]

Polly Rosborough, the originator of many great flies, liked to blend furs like rabbit, beaver, mink and muskrat to make his "noodles" of fur. His technique was simplicity itself: The furs were placed in a bowl of warm water with a few drops of detergent, agitated for a minute with his fingers, poured into sieve, rinsed with fresh water and then blotted dry. I prefer this technique as the fibers don't get fragmented or tangled as they do in a blender. And it works equally well for chopped yarn and synthetics.