Old topic: On the subject of Tup's Indispensable...

[hankaye]

Donald,

Rather a system of DABBING as opposed to a system of DUBBING ...?


Sorry, couldn't resist.

hank

[tie2fish]

So a ram that hadn't yet covered any of his ladies might yield a dubbing more red than would a ram that had? This may account for the wide range of reddish tints I've seen in various versions of the tups .

[chase creek]

There is a thought I had, it may have been made before but I seem to have
missed it, the traditional method sheep farmers monitored their rams was by
slabbering a dollop of red dye/paint on the ram's 'underparts'.
That way they could tell if a yew had been covered.
Or am I just being facetious.

Donald,
If I told a sheep man about that subject showing up on a fly tying website, he'd think I was crazy! Interesting stuff.

[DOUGSDEN]

Great post on such a varied and wonderful dubbing for the Tups. I have a small collection of various Tups furs. Some are pink all the way thru. In other words the color is consistant. Others are a mix of red, white, and pink fibers. Which one works the best? They both work fairly well in the fish catching department. I have a seal substitute which looks great but is kinda hard to dub. Asthetically (deduct 2 points for mis-spelling), I like the uniform pink color the best.
What's everyones thoughts and experiences?
Dougsden

[daringduffer]

I don't have much experience to add but I am absolutely positive that solid colours only exist in man-made products. When trying to suggest an insect I believe that a mix of colours is the better choice. I mix all my dubbing from different colours and with different structure of materials. This procedure boosts my confidence and turns me into a better fisherman (that is what I tell myself and I always believe myself when doing it). However, sometimes fish act as if they haven't read either a single book or the internet. Ain't that strange??

dd