Baron wrote:
...can I sub heavy wool or poly yarn for dubbing?
There are TONS of places to get materials for less than a fly shop:
In the old days before there were 12,876,493 different packages of fly tying materials available, I used to get fur scraps from furriers or old fur pieces at flea markets. I don't hunt so I asked my hunting friends for feathers & fur and processed them myself.
IF I wanted to use yarn for something and didn’t need the crazy colors the fly shops have, I’d hit the craft stores or flea markets. The problem is a skein is 5 lifetime’s worth of fly tying yarn. A source of more reasonable lengths were people I knew who crochet or knit.
As far as wool as “dubbing.” Wool absorbs water readily. As a result, it has never been a preferred material for flies that float. Other than that, it is cheap and available but so is rabbit, which is MUCH easier to use.
“Dubbing” as a verb, is typically understood to be a means to get fur applied to a hook shank. “Twist dubbing” where you twist “dubbing material” around the tying thread is the easiest method and best accomplished with soft, fine fibers, which is why rabbit works so well. If the material you are using is coarse and slippery, other methods of “dubbing” are employed.
Keeping that in mind, it is possible to dub 00 steel wool on a hook if you know how, the problem is do you know how and is it worth the hassle versus buying a nice small bag of pre-packaged silver dubbing which will tie a LOT of flies and is ready to go.
If you want to use yarn as “dubbing” MATERIAL and wish to “twist dub”, you need to cut up the yarn into short small lengths and more or less separate it into single fibers so you can twist it around the thread. If you want to WRAP it around the hook, which is much easier, it had better be small diameter yarn or a single strand of a large multi-strand yarn. It will also end up having a segmented look that you may or may not want, depending on the pattern.
When I started out fly tying it was fun scrounging materials to save a dime here or there but I ended up with tons of stuff I never used. I still have “fur blenders”, a set up for dyeing & bleaching materials, electric hair clippers for shearing fur from skins and Borax and a drying board for processing skins.
However, I just can’t be bothered anymore with the hassles just to save a few $$$ because the fly shop stuff is ready to go in the colors I want. In addition, when I factor in the cost of the fly shop stuff PER fly, it still ends up being negligible. Sure, I might save money if I bought certain things at a craft shop, but because of the quantity I have to buy, I will only realize that savings IF I tie 100,000 flies and don’t have to do anything to the stuff I bought.
These days, about the only time I go scrounging is when I find a new synthetic material that I know came from the garment or craft industry and I know I’ll use a ton of it. Even then, I usually end up using fly shop stuff because it isn’t often I find exactly what I am after in other places. It is simpler and more cost effective for ME to buy what I NEED at a fly shop, versus what catches my eye that I THINK I may utilize and to choose materials that I can use on more than one fly pattern or type. As always, YMMV.
As far as tools go, purpose made fly tying scissors are reasonably priced taking into consideration if you follow one simple piece of advice, the same pair(s) can last you a lifetime:
NEVER use the same scissors for every cutting task!!
Save the nice fine tip scissors for cutting thread and a stray hackle fiber or two, get a half decent pair of larger scissors for cutting the course materials and use WIRE CUTTERS to cut wire!! I have a small 3” pair a diagonal pliers I’ve been using for ever and my scissors are just as old and going strong.
It may take you a few tries to find the perfect bobbin but the same advice goes here too, IF you plan to use a bobbin to wrap wire or other coarse materials, use a different bobbin than the one you plan to use for tying thread. You may also want to buy multiple bobbins so you aren’t always switching thread spools.
A ceramic bobbin while nice isn’t essential but it is a necessity if you plan to use Gel Spun or Kevlar thread which can cut a plain steel bobbin tube. Just be advised that you can break a ceramic bobbin tube if you drop it on a hard surface.
A whip finisher is nice to have if your fingers are rough or you can’t master doing it without a tool and a LONG reach version of a whip finisher can be a life saver. At minimum, have something that functions as a half hitch tool or a proper half hitch tool. A dubbing needle is another necessity although almost anything will suffice in a pinch.
There has never been more specialized fly tying tools available than there is today. While some of them are superfluous, other are downright brilliant, make the task at hand much easier and are worth every penny. Just make sure you REALLY need them.
Have fun and shop wisely!
