Thread: dubbing

I have done flies using dubbing from size 28 all the way up to 1/0. I definitely wax the thread really well but have found that plumbers wax, the stuff used for toilet bowls works really well and is stickier.

As for peacock, if you take the herl and wrap it around the thread and then tie it in it stays on really well. My absolute favorite trout fly is a peacock herl body with a peacock sword tail. Have put many fish on the bank even after the fish have frayed the herl to the point it looks like a long dead bug. Works better that way most of the time, lol.

I have made some jigs with dubbing before. It was actually the first jig I was able to catch crappie on consistently. I wanted to try it out so messing around I wrapped a hot pink head with some ICE dub in am insect green color with insect green marabou.

As for wax or not I have stopped using it for the most part and like stated before most all the threads we tie jigs and even flies for that matter is prewaxed and if you twist it on sparingly it should be fine in my experience (which is limited) I learned how to avoid the wax mess by some pretty well known tiers in my area so I figured if it works for them then I might as well give it a try and so far so good. Wax definitely is easier if not a necessity when using a dubbing loop but I haven't tried making one without wax.

As for peacock hurl I wrap it around my thread and sometimes hit the thread base with some head cement or super glue before I wrap the body.