Dubbing Loops

[Divad]

If you bought the OPST spinner, throw a little round rubber bumper on the bottom. I wish I would have done this first thing, you’ll inevitably spin a couple too far as you learn and break thread. Then your spinner falls and chips your pedestal coating.

And spun up bunny, then wetted down with your fingers helps create the uniform direction you’re after.

 

[Creatch’r]

I make long brushes with bunny fur, makes it really easy to mass produce a bunch of flies instead of hassling with bunny in a loop each time. It keeps it simple. Once they are wet the material slicks back nicely and they last a long time. With the thin wire I use they are super durable, another bonus.

 

[_WW_]

 

[Nick Clayton]

Brian, I highly recommend you get on the dubbing brush train. They are so easy to make, and it's a ton of fun experimenting with different materials. They can really simplify fly tying as well, especially when cranking out a decent number of patterns.

Since I started making brushes I use dubbing loops pretty infrequently. Mostly just for certain patterns where I'm just adding a small amount of a single material.

I can understand if you have a reluctance to add more steps or complication to your tying, but knowing the flies you tie I bet you'd get a ton of use out of making your own brushes and I am very sure you'd come up with lots of cool shit to do with them.