Doug's March Brown Nymph

[letumgo]

Bill - Doug get's ALL the credit. He tied the flies and photographed them. I simply shared his photos, so everyone on the forum could enjoy his craftsmanship.

[tie2fish]

Sorry, Doug! Your photography has got so good that I assumed it was Ray's. Please accept my apologies.

[letumgo]

[Ruard]

Sorry, Doug! Your photography has got so good that I assumed it was Ray's. Please accept my apologies.

Me too shame on me Doug!!!!

But how you can achieve those green hooks??

Greeting

Ruard

[DOUGSDEN]

Good Evening Fellows,
I am overwhelmed with the positive comments from everyone! Thank you! William, I will respond to your wonderful reply soon about thread tensions and densities and such. Fascinating stuff! The photography is mine for sure but thanks to Ray for putting them "on the waves"!
Ruard, you are right! The hooks are green! I am afraid that is my doings with the camera! In this way, I am still a rookie! I did however remember what you showed me In Grantsville about using the macro settings. Natural lighting, flash photography, wow! So much to master as I sail into uncharted waters!
More later for sure,
Doug

[Ruard]

Good Evening Fellows,
I did however remember what you showed me In Grantsville about using the macro settings. Natural lighting, flash photography, wow! So much to master as I sail into uncharted waters!
More later for sure,
Doug

You did fine with the macrosettings!! Thumbs up!!!!!!!!

greeting

Ruard

[Old Hat]

Doug, those are top notch ties!

That cottontail is the perfect color combination for our local march browns. They are very mottled like this with darker undertones.

I like the fullness of the pattern as well with the short and stocky profile.

A+

Carl

[DOUGSDEN]

Wayne and Tim,

I just realized that I did not respond to each of your inquires about the March Browns! Wayne, yes the bunnies are local from various hunter friends and my own son-in-law (he declared war on them after they had invaded his garden and mowed off his beans and lettuce). I still love to hunt rabbits and other critters (deer esp.) but I have not kept a kennel or even a few beagles for several years. Anyway, the dubbing is from the head of the rabbit from the pole (between the ears) right down the the nose at about 3/4" wide at the top and getting much narrower at the nose. The raw fur is very dark and hardly spiky looking until you chop it up and send it to the fur blender. Then, those beautiful brown fibers shine through and the whole pile begins to look buggy! Maybe I should back up just a bit and tell you my experiences with rabbit fur.

A couple of years ago, I started experimenting with hares ear dubbings from cotton-tailed rabbits. I inquired of John Shaner about the difference between English hares ear dubbing and our own c.t.'d wonders. He simply stated that there is a huge difference and that the English hares ears make far superior dubbing. It didn't take long to see just how right he was. But, I persisted and at the end of the season (and even after the purchase of some rabbit faces, some natural and some dyed) I had a meager pile of cotton-tailed hares ear dubbing that was dark, truly spiky looking and not very soft, and not easy to dub. Lesson learned the hard way. But, it did give me a better understanding of the other assorted furs, and good ones too, that can come from the head of a native bunny. The pole....you might as well toss it into the mix with the bridge of the nose fur (like I used on Rays M.B.'s). It's dark for sure but very soft in texture. If you had about a hundred heads to spare, this might make a very interesting dubbing in itself. Moving on....the cheeks....It is amazing the difference in color and texture when you transition from the top of the head down over to the cheeks. The fur becomes much lighter in color (a nice medium brown, almost tan) and loses that desirable spiky look. Still, it's a great dubbing for other patterns that need those characteristics. Under the jaws is yet another type of dubbing but not much of it is avail.

Within all these area's one can mix and match different furs from the same head and come up with some very nice dubbings. The possibilities are endless and definately worth looking into. A fur blender is a must esp. when you start crossing the diff. furs into the desired blends. Measuring proportions of fur can be tricky so be as precise as you can. You have some latitude here!

O.K. where was I....Tim....I have forgotten what I wanted to tell you! I will get back with you real soon!
Maybe I talk too much?
Doug

[DOUGSDEN]

Tim,
Now I remember....you asked if I used Ice Dubbing? No, but I have some of it and it is "electric" for sure! And, I can see on the pictures where this looks like it! It's all bunny snout for sure!
Ice Dubbing has a fair amount of rabbit under fur mixed in (dyed the corr. color of course) to help it bind together. Pure ice dubbing is much like real seal dubbing in that it's very hard to compress or make conform to the thread when dubbing a body. And, it's slick by nature which doesn't help in getting it to behave on the thread. When you can get things to go right, it makes an awesome looking body on a fly.
Now, hears a thought.....Ice Dubbing would be an excellent candidate for our Clark spinning blocks and their well waxed and tacky silks! Whose gonna be first to show us the results of this experiment? Has it been done already before? Fess up folks and show us the past threads!
Meanwhile, I am racing towards the den looking for my block! I hope this answered your question Tim. You got the short version on this one!
Doug

[Mataura mayfly]

Doug, I think your little cotton tail face nymphs are wee pearlers.
It isn't Hares ear- but then you were not expecting it to be. I hear you on the differences between the central face band and down through the cheek. I think there are at least 5 different types or areas of dubbing on your average bunnies face- even more if you include the neck.
Funny how people rush for rabbit zonker, but always tend to reach for Hare dubbing? I collect rabbit the same way I gather Hares- one shot at a time- and i use a fair bit of both for dubbing of similar nymphs or sometimes just for thoraxes.