obsolete materials and their patterns

[ridderbos3]

A post was made by riverdancer about not being able to get certain materials anymore. This made me think about some material I just picked up at an auction. IT is a dubbing and all it says is Mel's tubin times dubbin. And I believe it says "spectrumized" on it. Has anyone heard of this dubbing ? IT is pretty cool multicolored stuff. Anyone have any patterns using it?

What other materials do people have that are no longer available? Were there specific patterns that you tied with that material and have not found a good substitute?

The dubbing for the 'Tups Indispensible', or at least the original, is difficult to get. It happens to be an excellent dubbing. Going back in time, Theodore Gordon thought it was excellent. Sorry but I'm having a brain **** and can't recall the tyers name, but he searched for the original blend recipe, made some and sent a package of it to me. It is a spectrumized, multi-colored type dubbing. Today's immitations of it do not look like the real thing.

Allan
Allan

[RS Jones]

Hi ridderbos3!
The dubbing mix you have is very nice stuff for making leaches. It is made by Mel Moore in Idaho Falls. To make a mohair leach, attach a maribou tail about the length of the hook, make a dubbing loop above the hook bend and pull off pieces of the dubbing and place it in the loop. Then, using a dubbung twister, twist the dubbing into a rope then wind the dubbing up the hook shank to the eye and tie off. Take a piece of velcro or a dubbing brush and brush out the dubbing. You can put 3 or 4 strands of crystal flash on top of the maribou tail for flash. Mel makes the stuff in several different fishy colors.
RS Jones

[ridderbos3]

Is he still making the stuff? Leeches were about the only thing I could think of to make with the stuff.

john

[mcsteff]

John
Found this by googling: [url=http://www.flypatternbook.net/hivis.htm:4afc2]http://www.flypatternbook.net/hivis.htm[/url:4afc2]
When do you want to try one of those things on the Dowagiac?
mcsteff

[ridderbos3]

Man I havent even been on the dowagiac yet this year. Anytime!

how about this one for a gill fly
[url=http://www.flypatternbook.net/hddamsel.htm:b09da]http://www.flypatternbook.net/hddamsel.htm[/url:b09da]

[Mark Vendon]

Hi ridderbos3,

The dubbing tyeflies (Allan) is referring to was made by Jeff Serena. You can make a pretty comparable substitute useing seals fur and some other ingredients of the same shade and texture. It's really impossible to duplicate this type of dubbing, since as far as I know, the exact recipe was taken to the grave. Even the materials that Jeff came up with are just based on what he was able to gather by reading old books etc.
One of the other materials that I know of that you just can't get anymore are Condor Quills. There were many patterns up till 1980 or so that called for it like the late Chauncy Lively, but they're long gone. With the exception of full dress salmon fly materials that everyone knows about, that's all I can think of.

Regards,

Mark

Mark,

Thanks. Yes, it was Jeff Serena. Too bad he doesn't visit here.
The topic of this material came up about 2 years ago on another site. Jeff did some investigation and learned of the original recipe for the dubbing. It did not go to the grave with R.A. Austin, the originator. It was kept secret after his death by his daughter and GEM Skues. After the daughter retired from fly tying Skues described the dubbing in The Flyfisher's Club Journal(1934).

Jeff went so far as to duplicate the original dubbing down to the specific species of sheep!

Allan

[catskilljohn]

"A little fine wool from the rams testicles"Yikes,try to collect that from a live specimen! No wonder why it is so hard to duplicate. CJ

Catskill J,

As is the song by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell: "Ain't nothin like the real thing, baby. Ain't nothin like the real thing".

From book by T. Donald Overfield(p106),
"... a mixture of wool taken from the scrotum of a tup(ram), which no doubt accounted for the yellowish tinge caused by the urine, to which was added a pinch of lemon hair from a spaniel, and seasoned with a small amount of fur from the poll of a hare, plus a little mohair to turn the witch's brew a slightly pinkish shade."
After some experimentation, Skues "suggested that the red mohair be discarded in favor of red seal's fur, surely Skues' favorite body material. That Austin agreed to the change is evident from subsequent letters. He also agreed to Skues christening of the fly the Tup's Indispensable".

Allan