Start Fly Tying
Dubbing
Dubbing is the act of attaching some kind of material - usually hair, either real or synthetic - onto a length of the tying thread, and winding that thread onto the hook-shank to form a body. This can either be left 'slim', or picked out to give the impression of legs and movement and generally being alive.
1: The first step is to wind touching turns of thread down to the hook-bend - you may be beginning to notice a pattern here! Then pull a length of thread of about five centimetres, and leave the bobbin holder hanging. At this point, the thread can be waxed with dubbing wax. This is to help the material being dubbed to stick to the thread This was an essential step in the days when only pure silk threads were available, but modern synthetic threads are pre-waxed, so it is not strictly necessary. However, a small covering of wax can make the process easier, especially with difficult to dub material.
2: Take a small amount of your dubbing material, and gently shred it with your fingers. The idea here is to make it easier to work with. You can also mix different colours at this stage too.
3: Take a pinch of material, offer it to the thread, and between finger and thumb, roll it onto the thread, working your way down towards the bobbin holder. The idea is to form a rope of dubbing. Try to keep the thickness of the rope even, and don't use too much material, that is the temptation. But put on too much and the body of the fly will be too thick. Look through some natural history books - most flies bodies are quite thin, certainly the abdomen.
4: Once you have formed your dubbing rope, wind it down the hook-shank to form the body of the fly. When you get to the region of the eye of the hook, remove any excess dubbing, then proceed to the next step in finishing the fly. That might be tying off, tying a rib, or tying a hackle.
Now try tying on hackle
1: The first step is to wind touching turns of thread down to the hook-bend - you may be beginning to notice a pattern here! Then pull a length of thread of about five centimetres, and leave the bobbin holder hanging. At this point, the thread can be waxed with dubbing wax. This is to help the material being dubbed to stick to the thread This was an essential step in the days when only pure silk threads were available, but modern synthetic threads are pre-waxed, so it is not strictly necessary. However, a small covering of wax can make the process easier, especially with difficult to dub material.
2: Take a small amount of your dubbing material, and gently shred it with your fingers. The idea here is to make it easier to work with. You can also mix different colours at this stage too.
3: Take a pinch of material, offer it to the thread, and between finger and thumb, roll it onto the thread, working your way down towards the bobbin holder. The idea is to form a rope of dubbing. Try to keep the thickness of the rope even, and don't use too much material, that is the temptation. But put on too much and the body of the fly will be too thick. Look through some natural history books - most flies bodies are quite thin, certainly the abdomen.
4: Once you have formed your dubbing rope, wind it down the hook-shank to form the body of the fly. When you get to the region of the eye of the hook, remove any excess dubbing, then proceed to the next step in finishing the fly. That might be tying off, tying a rib, or tying a hackle.
Now try tying on hackle
Form a dubbing rope:
Form the body: