How often do you wax?

[osprey]

Thanks for that "image" boss , first thing in the morning. Wax does have it's place in tying , but it's not on yer *** , if you know , for instance , you are going to be fishing water that is fast and you need as much floatation/waterproofing as possible waxing will surely keep you from waterlogging for awhile longer....also what aFish says about natural fur dubbing is the same for me , a little wax just seems to help you make it "behave" , makes certain materials more manageable , those are the two things that come to mind but a question i've had for awhile is when you buy tying thread that says pre-waxed , like Danville , why doesn't it look like it waxed?

 

[shipnfish2006]

I got into the habit of using every time I dubbed when I first started tying. I've slowly been weaning myself away from it the last year or so. I only use it when I'm doing a dubbing loop and I need the dubbing to stick to the thread a little better.

 

[Millertime]

So, most everyone uses it for dubbing loops.

I know basically what a dubbing loop is. . .

Where, when, how, what do I use a dubbing loop for?

 

[jayL]

Re: dubbing loop:

For "buggy" flies like a walt's worm or hare's ear.

I rarely wax. If I have it within reach, I will for a loop.

 

[Millertime]

So since I posted about wax. . .

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[ryguyfi]

Millertime wrote:
So since I posted about wax. . .

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Check out my screen shot.

Now that is pretty funny!

 

[Millertime]

I usually just put some dubbing on and go I have never made the loop before.

My flies look pretty good I think.

Will a loop make thing better?

 

[jayL]

IMO, a loop looks better, and flies tied with them fish better. (at least flies that can benefit, like walt's worms, hares ears, and other buggy nymphs)

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/tyingtips/part144.php

 

[ezpickins]

Yes - for buggy nymphs the dubbing loop works well. If you're using a dubbing with spiky guard hairs, the dubbing loop allows the guard hairs to really stand out. When you twist natural fur, with lots of guard hairs, directly onto a thread you can end up twisting the longer guard hairs around the thread so that they don't stick out - you can always pick them out, but a dubbing loop works better.

Another good use is when using a dubbing, like rabbit or muskrat (without guard hairs) you can create a nice segmented look with a dubbing loop.

Another cool use is to create "hair-legs" or "hair-hackle" for nymphs or wets check out these fly tutorials for those two uses.

Hair Hackle example

Hair legs example

 

[Millertime]

SO. . . i make the loop. place my dub on ?one side? of the loop and then twist? then I wrap that around the hook?

Is that correct?



EZP those are some nice french ties on that site. haha.
those look extremely clean for having dubbed all of those in.

 

[ezpickins]

Millertime wrote:
SO. . . i make the loop. place my dub on ?one side? of the loop and then twist? then I wrap that around the hook?

Is that correct?



EZP those are some nice french ties on that site. haha.
those look extremely clean for having dubbed all of those in.

Yep, make the loop, split it, apply dubbing to one side (i use a little wax on the strand I'm applying dubbing to), bring the strands back together to trap the dubbing, twist it. It should get nice and spikey. Then wrap.

 

[flipnfly]

i use it sometimes like with natural/synthetic mixed dubbings or when it just isnt sticking to the thread i use it when tying drys because any extra float helps and i dont do much loop dubbing so for me wax is very situational....

 

[bam]

Miller, another option is to take the twist out of your thread and just split a few inches of it with a needle. Fill the gap with dubbing and spin the thread. Same effect, just make sure you aren't using a thread like uni or a cord type thread because it won't split.

 

[SkyBlue]

I never use wax, I tie with CDC 90% of the time.