Caddis worm dubbings?

[fish]

Hi Guys,

What dubbing blends or alternative materials do you use imitating the green rock worm and mustard caddis' colouring?

I've been blending cream/chartreuse/insect-green for the rock worm and gold/yellow/rusty brown for the mustard worm. Any other ideas or brands?

[Gael]

Well, I also blend dubbing like yourself to achieve the colours I need. Wapsi also make a caddis range of SLF dubbings which are very nice. I was lucky enough to find a dispenser of this marked with an old price at the bottom of the pile for a third of the normal retail price :-)

On some of my larger control flies that I use for Czech nymphing, I’ve been using embroidery thread, it’s cheap and comes in a huge range of colours, plus these larger flies (6-8) go though allot of dubbing.

There is a very nice mustard colour out there made by Wapsi, it’s a rabbit dubbing and the colour is called squirrel belly. Unfortunately the local agent does not import this colour in loose packets and I’ve only seen it in dispensers.

[MaXiMuM]

I also just blend till I get the required color, but this year the Cadis in the Vaal are particularly bright and fat… I have been using a bright green V-rib to imitate them and it has been working well…

I also tie one like a San Juan worm.

I used to use the same techniques to imitate the Saw Fly lava around Rhodes, un-weighted, but since Working for Water killed all the Crack Willow, I don’t know if the fish will take it as readily. I wonder what effect it will have on the fish and the fishing, we think we saw some of the results last years, but will get a better idea soon…

[ShaunF]

Hi Guys,

What dubbing blends or alternative materials do you use imitating the green rock worm and mustard caddis' colouring?

I've been blending cream/chartreuse/insect-green for the rock worm and gold/yellow/rusty brown for the mustard worm. Any other ideas or brands?

Haven't seen a green rock worm up here and so haven't imitated it, but for caddis I find the Dave Whiltlock's SLF dubbings hard to beat. I blend between Dragonfly Olive, Damsel Olive, Damsel Tan and Scud & Shrimp Olive depending on the shade I'm going for.

[Chris Shelton]

Hi Guys,

What dubbing blends or alternative materials do you use imitating the green rock worm and mustard caddis' colouring?

I've been blending cream/chartreuse/insect-green for the rock worm and gold/yellow/rusty brown for the mustard worm. Any other ideas or brands?

Just a thought, why go the dubbing route at all? Wouldn't lava lace be a better option for the segmented look and also give a bit more sheen as per the natural? I would maybe use a bit of dubbing for colour underneath some clear lava lace.

[MaXiMuM]

I used to use Laval lace, but I found it a little thick and difficult to work with. that’s why I tried V-rib and have stuck to it. I have about 5 colors in the 3 sizes.

You can manipulate the color by putting a base down of a different color. It also works great as a ribbing.

I do something a little different for one particular stream I fish here near JHB, where the mayfly have particularly long and “fluffy” gills. Put down a base of V-rib, and wind a thin noodle of dubbing in between the ribs, works great and that fly catches a lot of fish…

[gkieser]

Mike, have you ever tried flashabou in diff colours under the V-rib? That gives an incredible effect.

[KevinE]

Just a thought, why go the dubbing route at all? Wouldn't lava lace be a better option for the segmented look and also give a bit more sheen as per the natural? I would maybe use a bit of dubbing for colour underneath some clear lava lace.

Good question Chris. I have tried lava lace and other similar products and made some very realistic looking flies. But nothing seems to work as well as dubbing, even if it doesn't look as good to the eye. I remember one year collecting some free living green caddis from the river and tying some very realistic imitations using micro chenille, and then getting zero takes on the river. Dad had some very scruffy patterns just with olive dubbing for the abdomen and brown dubbing for the thorax and he was nailing them. My theory is that dubbing collects air bubbles and thereby creates a distinctive flash that the fish recognises as an ascending caddis.

I use rabbit fur in different shades that I then blend with small amounts of antron or litebrite to achieve the right colour. A dirty olive or mustard seems to work best. I always add a bit of hares fur to the thorax blend to suggest legs and achieve "buginess".

[dizzy]

Good question Chris. I have tried lava lace and other similar products and made some very realistic looking flies. But nothing seems to work as well as dubbing, even if it doesn't look as good to the eye. I remember one year collecting some free living green caddis from the river and tying some very realistic imitations using micro chenille, and then getting zero takes on the river. Dad had some very scruffy patterns just with olive dubbing for the abdomen and brown dubbing for the thorax and he was nailing them. My theory is that dubbing collects air bubbles and thereby creates a distinctive flash that the fish recognises as an ascending caddis.

I use rabbit fur in different shades that I then blend with small amounts of antron or litebrite to achieve the right colour. A dirty olive or mustard seems to work best. I always add a bit of hares fur to the thorax blend to suggest legs and achieve "buginess".

Gary Glen Young ties his flies with Holo dubbing. He says that this dubbing gives the illusion of air bubbles.
I've tied some of these flies from the book (Favoured Flies and Select Techniques Of The Experts Vol 1),
and these flies really do work well.

[Nymph+O-]

Gary Glen Young ties his flies with Holo dubbing. He says that this dubbing gives the illusion of air bubbles.
I've tied some of these flies from the book (Favoured Flies and Select Techniques Of The Experts Vol 1),
and these flies really do work well.

Hey dizz!?
Where did you manage to get hold of the holo dub. I also bought the book but just cant seem to find all the holo colours at all the stores I tried - got brown though. I also heard from Gael that Garry uses a blend of the holo stuff not just straight out of the packet.

Hey fish!?
There is also a recipe for the mustard dub in that same book, check it out - I find the book really handy. I use a mustard-brownish-goldish-yellow acrylic wool for my Mustard Caddis or Ultra Rock Worm as they call it. It is my favourite fly on control position and has taken plenty of sm and mud including my personal best sm.