Skills: Basic dubbing

Often, it’s the little things that make a fly look like it’s supposed to look. Dubbing is the perfect example. Dubbing itself is a mass of fibers, be it made of hair or artificial stuff, like Antron. Some of my favorite flies require expertly dubbed bodies—consider what an Adams might look like if the dubbing were a mess. Or a Blue-winged Olive. Or a Pale Morning Dun.

You get the idea.

Here, in the video above, Tim Flagler shows us how to tie the perfect dubbed body, from start to finish. He makes it look easy, but, as with anything else in fly-tying, practice makes perfect.

— Chris Hunt

By Chris Hunt.