Fly Tying Dubbing

Fly Tying Dubbing

Dubbing, or dubbin, as some refer to it, is any sort of natural or synthetic fuzzy material that we use to spin or twist around a thread to make a fly body. There was a day when dubbing was pretty much limited to furs like muskrat, mole, beaver, rabbit, and otter-like critters. These animals have fur that is dense and relatively short. The fur, depending on where it is shorn off the hide, may or may not have guard hairs, may be a little longer or shorter, and may be darker or lighter. Folks like Poly Rosborough taught us how to mix furs in a glass jar, bland them with soapy water, and develop new dubbing materials that were not easily hand mixed. Baby seal fur came into fashion, especially for steelhead fly tyers, and soon that material, with its characteristic spikey sparkle, became highly sought after for tying trout nymphs in addition to steelhead flies.

Remember when we had to shear our own hare’s masks to tie a decent Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear nymph? No more. Today, thanks especially to the crew at Hareline Dubbin, we have a dazzling array of dubbing (dubbin) materials to suit our needs for nymph, lake flies, saltwater flats flies, dry flies, soft hackles, and steelhead and salmon flies. These materials include both natural materials like rabbit fur, angora Goat, wool, and possum. We still offer dubbing on the hide, like mole and muskrat. We offer dubbing like Quick Descent that is actually a high density material that helps nymphs and wet flies sink faster. We offer specialty dubbing like Scud dub (scud nymphs), Ice Dub (extra sparkle in all fly bodies), Polar Dub (extra sparkle in longer fibers), Hare’s ear Plus (rabbit under fur, guard hairs, and antron for sparkle in nymphs, soft hackles, and emergers), micro and super fine dry fly dubbing (dubbing of choice for small dry flies), Krystal dub (rabbit and flashabou blend for a touch of sparkle), and of course STS, Salmon trout steelhead dubbing (one of the most versatile dubbing materials ever invented, better than baby seal with a clear Conscience too).

Colors? We carry these various dubbing materials in a lot of colors. STS Trilobal is represented by over 30 colors; Hareline dubbin by about 50 colors; Quick Descent by 14 colors; Angora Goat by 24 colors; Senyo’s Laser yarn by 14 colors; Custom blend dubbing by 14 colors; and Ice Dub by close to 50 colors, including several UV hues.

And if these textures, are not enough to suit your secret fly tying desires, go crazy with a coffee grinder and try mixing colors and textures to create your own passionate dubbing blend. We do, and you might just have fun with this too.