Touch Dubbing: A Revolutionary Fly Tying Technique for Realistic Nymph Patterns

By Guest Blogger, Todd Turner of Armstrong Creek Outfitters

At a Chicago-area fly fishing show in the mid-90's, I had the great fortune of watching Gary LaFontaine demonstrate his Twist Nymph and share the pattern's origin story. From that experience, and over subsequent years of learning from his books and newsletters, I became a disciple of his theories of attraction and methods of imitation.

His Twist Nymph and numerous other LaFontaine originals incorporate novel fly tying materials and techniques that solved riddles from his countless hours underwater observing real bugs and trout in their natural habitat. His simple Twist Nymph incorporated what he called "Double Magic"—a body made of peacock herl twisted within a loop of thread that was "touch dubbed" with his own concoction of Antron-based fly tying dubbing.

Gary recognized that the reflective properties of Antron fibers closely mimic the visual triggers of trapped air bubbles that help lift many emerging pupa toward the surface. He witnessed feeding trout selectively key in on these visual features.

As I have developed my own patterns over the years, almost all of my nymph, larva, and pupa imitations use touch dubbing in some component—as both a technique and special fly tying material. I believe that touch dubbing, underwater, produces a look of life and struggle and motion which indicate opportunity to a trout.

• Subtle realism: Adds a subtle glint without producing unnatural flash
• Sparse application: Creates the life-effect without adding unnatural bulk, particularly on tiny patterns
• Natural proportions: Avoids over-dressing common to many patterns compared to svelte natural insects

There are a couple of important key steps to the touch dubbing method: dubbing fiber selection, application to the thread, and applying fly tying dubbing to the hook.

Critical requirement: You need fly tying material with very short fiber length, usually 1/4" or smaller. Most synthetic and many natural dubbing fibers have fiber lengths of an inch or more and are unsuitable for touch dubbing straight out of the pack, so you need to cut it.

Over the past few years, I have been making my own blends of touch dubbing which allows me to create the color and effect I'm trying to achieve for particular patterns. All of my blends contain some Antron.

Step-by-step process:

1. Pull a section of dubbing from the pack
2. Align the fibers in small clumps
3. Place the clump in a clip (or your fingers)
4. Cut the clump into quarter-inch sections
5. Blend and fluff it in a spice grinder
6. Processing time: About 20 minutes per pack

• Big Easy Midge Pupa: Pure Antron to create a faint veil extending back over the thorax, imitating writhing struggling wing buds and legs
• Baetis nymph legs: All-Antron application
• Caddis pupa and scud patterns: Touch-dubbed rib on the abdomen
• Sowbug blend: Short hairs from cream snowshoe hare's feet pads added to an Antron base
• Caddis pupa thorax: Includes spikey hare's mask, squirrel, or Australian possum for added bulk and flow

If you're not excited about making your own touch dubbing, Al and Gretchen Beatty (btsflyfishing.com) produce ready-to-go touch dubbing called "Double Magic."

The typical technique for touch dubbing follows these steps:

1. Apply wax: Tap soft tacky wax (I use Overton's Wonder Wax) along a length of thread
2. Add dubbing: Dab a wad of touch dubbing material along the waxed thread so thin fibers stick
3. Distribute fibers: Spin your bobbin just a few rotations to distribute fibers around the thread
4. Wrap onto hook: Wrap the flocked thread onto the hook—it's very simple

Important nuance: Don't spin the dubbing fibers around the thread with your fingers like you would to create a traditional dubbing noodle. Simply start wrapping the flocked thread onto the hook.

The thread wraps bind many, but not all fibers to the hook. As you wrap the thread, preen the fibers on the hook rearward as you go forward to avoid matting down too many fibers with successive wraps. Some fibers come off as you proceed and preen, but that's part of the idea. Less is much more.

You're trying to create a sparse veil-type effect that allows light to show through, traps some air and creates a few bubbles underwater, and adds life-like chaos to the pattern.

I typically use Semperfli 18/0 Nano Silk, which is awesome because it's so strong and adds so little bulk, but it's very fine stuff and a little tough to split easily.

Keys to splitting small thread:

• Use magnifying glass or powerful reading glasses
• Use high-quality, very sharp dubbing needle or bodkin
• Flatten the thread with your fingernail to give a broader target
• Practice consistently (it took me a few weeks to master 18/0)

I believe in subtlety, sparseness, natural proportions, and simplicity. I always start my pattern design with the real bug, and I share Gary's reliance upon first-hand observation.

I love catching trout stream bugs and taking macro pictures and videos to reference in my pattern development. When I'm unable to get a stream sample myself, I search in books, magazines, and online for pictures or videos of insects I'm trying to imitate.

Regarding midges, Midge Magic, published in 2001 by Don Holbrook and Ed Koch, provides wonderful macro photos of midge pupae and larvae that were pumped from fish that were released unharmed. These are bugs that fish ate. The color variety and detail in these images led to my creating the Big Easy Midge series.

Whenever I come up with a new idea:

1. Start with a little sketch
2. Tie the bug
3. Attach it to tippet
4. Put it in a glass of water to see how it looks

When I'm fishing, I add life to my presentation by attaching the fly to the tippet using a Uni-knot, leaving a very small open loop at the hook eye so the fly can swing more freely in the current.

I hope you have a chance to try these touch dubbing techniques and find them as successful as I do.