Gary, Once the dubing is conistently wrapped onto the thread or whatever you're using for the core, the wraps themslves should be just as consistent on the hook. There should be no reason for one side of the hook to be sparse.
Next, dubbing selection is important to get the look you want. Rope dubbing can give you any look you want right out of the box, but picking the right dubbing is also a must. In the rope-dub swap, I received flies that were clean and smooth, but well segmented. From there they ran the gamut to bushy flies that the segments were hard to actually see, but still there. The most common comment from all the swappers was that it was very fast and easy to use once a few parts were mastered. If you want a bushy collar, brush out fibers in the rope dub strand before you wrap it. If the rope is too tight, back off a gew turns, brush out fibers, then re-rope. Try adding some opposite color fibers halfway through the rope, too. These will stay loose and on the surface. When you brush them out, they will be part of the bushy effect. Ice-dub is a good material to do this with, as it adds color and hi-lights. This is where I dub on mono, as the strength lends to tight wraps that tuck in under the back edge of the bead-head or cone. Hope this helps. After this project is over, I'm going to do a few articles for Byard and the VFB site. Re-visiting rope-dub will be one of them, highlighting the swap and the winners, plus adding to the tips and the technique range. After that, I'll do an article on McFlyfoam yarn, and another on deer-hair spinning, packing, and stacking. Who knows, maybe I'll do another on Flex-o, too. Gotta hit the road now, hope this helps. DonO ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 8:32 PM Subject: [VFB] Speaking of Dubbing (the technique, not the material) > I find that when I am dubbing a collar area right behind the thread head, I > am having a difficult time getting the same amount of dubbing material all > the way around the hook. The off side of the hook is generally more sparse > or perhaps more compacted than the side that I'm looking at when I'm > tying. This is especially true when tying bead heads. I like this area to > have a very spikey look to it. Usually I am using "Super Brite", which I > really like the look of. > > Any thoughts or suggestions? > > - Gary > > P.S. DonO, I have used your "rope dub" techique, but not in the above > mentioned application. Do you think it would be appropriate for a dubbed > collar? > > - g~ >
