New to Fly tying capers stage two!

[Mr B]

Dubbing is difficult to master but the best tip is to use less dubbing. Take a pinch, halve it, then halve it again. You will find that if you twist the dubbing material around the silk and wind it on the shank, it will either tighten on the thread as you wind or loosen and fall off. Once you have the direction of twist sorted out the material will stay on the silk. Wax won't help.

Good, that sounds about right, think I have been putting to much on... its the close ups on the videos thats doing it!
Yes, dropping off to one side sometimes and I am twisting it the same way.
I'll give that a go next time thanks for the advice.

[Iasgair]

Those Red Tags will catch fish. You did a great job on them. The body length is spot on, the red tags are perfect and the eyes look clean, meaning you didn't cover them with varnish. But I would clip the hackle fibers away from the eyes.

They look fantastic and you should be very proud of them. I'm glad to see you getting lots of practice but most of all it seems you're having fun and that's the best part. I'd be happy to fish with those.

I said I would put a couple of photos of my dubbin pactice flys.
Had a busy week so thats it for now but have some smaller hooks and some other bits of sparkle, lead, etc.
Yes, had a struggle getting it twisted on the thread...practice I suppose.. any tips?
I think I might have been soft on it? Might need a harder pinch?

Mr B

Next time you're ready to use dubbing, take a small pinch and then put half of it back. Generally when learning to tie, people use too much dubbing. Believe me, it takes very little. Just a whisper of dubbing is all you need to start with.
Now that you have your dubbing in your hand, place it on the thread. What I do is wet my fingers with a bit of saliva off my tongue, and then I wind it on what I'd say is clockwise because I'm right handed. Grind it on good and thin. You can start wrapping it around the hook and if you feel you need more go ahead and add just a tad more at a time until you have the right amount built up on the hook.

I used to use dubbing wax because I have very dry hands, but I never liked the look of the dubbing because wax can darken the dubbing if you use too much, plus as mentioned before by another member, it doesn't make the dubbing stick to the hook, but it does help stick it to the thread, but you only need a very small application on your fingers. Just one swipe of wax on your thumb and rub your thumb and forefinger together and that should be enough. But I just tap my forefinger twice on my tongue and it works well. Another thing you can do is apply some lotion on your hands before you tie.

Before wrapping the dubbing around the hook, to get a tighter look, twist the dubbing around the thread and then do a wrap around the hook, then twist again and then another wrap. Keep doing that and you'll have a nice tight dubbed body.

There are different, minor ways to do this, but in general it's just like I said. On some flies you may get away with a bit more dubbing at one time, but less is more and cleaner looking. It does take some practice, but if you use less and grind it on the silk or thread you're using, you'll get it in no time.