1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Fly Tying
›
3. the dubbing debate 2: to spin or loop?, Page 3

Can you imagine the water left in my dry fly when it hits the end of the cast on one of my Steve Rajeff double hauls? It looks like a cock pheasant I centered at about 20 yds. with a load of 6's like my dog and I did the other day. Dropped my cane, and fired way faster than I thought I could.
I just change flies if it is not an easy hook removal, or most of the fur and feathers are not outside the fishes mouth. And you can change quickly if you use one of those little, metal clip thingies. :)

I have never tried a dubbing loop. I usually dub directly onto the tying thread, and then pick it with a small patch of velcro. But one thing that bothers me about this technique is, the dubbing material tends to pick out from/roll off of the TOP of the hook on one side, and the BOTTOM of the hook on the other, giving the finished fly a sometimes lopsided appearance.

Well I'll bet everyone on this forum will have his own opinion but here is my feelings on "to spin or to loop".

I never loop for any of my dry flies no matter what the size. From #22 to #8 I apply dubbing material in amounts suitable for the hook size and in amounts that I can control well and roll onto the waxed thread. My goal is to create a nice even tapered body that has the appearance of a natural bug.

Now when I tie subsurface flies sometimes I still use a dubbing noodle but often for nymphs I use the spin/noodle for the abdomen and a dubbing loop for the thorax. Then I don't need to bother with legs - which are a pain in the butt to tie sometimes - especially if I'm trying to make really pretty partridge fiber legs that are symmetrical to the hook. Ugh! I can do it but the older I get the less I think that amount of finite detail really matters.

When you use a dubbing loop you can do so much more with it than when you just create a noodle. After you loop dub the thorax you can clip the bottom and top if you want to make legs or you can make another loop and add guard hairs to make a nice fur hackle collar.

There is a lot to be said for both techniques and I don't think you should limit yourself to any one of the two. Use them both for your tying either individually or like I mentioned spin dub abdomen loop the thorax.

When I have some more time I'll attach some pics of those flies. I especially like to loop dub my steelhead flies because I lose a lot of flies to the bottom and I want to tie them as quickly as possible.

McJames -


Yep, besides being lopsided, the flies destruction has already begun. The trout will have a much easier time finishing it off. I'm with Matt on everything he said. The dubbing loop will give the spiky look for the thorax while being more consistent and MUCH more durable. Also read Mark's (Softhackle) comments earlier on in the topic for info on the Leisenring method. It's another approach that is superior for full length spiky bodies, IMO.

I use both. If I'm just covering ground I spin. If I want a really spiky look I will make a loop. A loop also helps arrange and control materials, or dub with materials that don't spin well, like feather barbs.

Lately I've been making life easy for myself. The skein of twisted, dacron that you can buy cheap in a craft store that comes in pastel colors?..Mine are 3 stranded I do believe with buggy, fibers coming off of them. I use one, or two strands, whatever the hook calls for. cut a piece, and once an end is caught on the hook, you can one strand wrap holding the end, and the thread getting a very tight wrap if you want. I can pull the "stuff" off the strand, and regular dub...easy to work with, and get it as tight as you want. I think it is dacron? a synthetic anyway.

i tie with my right hand twisting the thread clockwise around the hook if you were looking at it from the front. which direction would i want to twist on my dubbing?

Clockwise...put on the dubbing twisting your fingers TOWARDS THE BACK of the hook which is clockwise. That means every turn of your thread tightens the dubbing as you apply it...dubbing it on the thread counterclockwise, or towards the eye, loosens the dubbing as you wrap. I dub with my right hand, and have applied dubbing on the thread counterclockwise for years, and apply the dubbing on the thread better that way. So with every turn of dubbing I'm using my left hand to tighten the dubbing. Dry flies float better with a tighter dubbing preventing less water from entering.