[Trout Bum]

Thanks Gordon, they're fun to tie. Dubbing deer hair is new technique that I recently picked up from an article.

It just takes patience and an ample supply of dubbing wax to make your thread and fingers tacky enough to work with the deer hair. Simply grasp a very small clump of deer hairs (about 15-20 to start with), and dub them up the thread just like you would dub a clump of fur. If you have trouble, bend or wrap the clump of hair around the thread so you already have a "start" to work from. At first, I found it easier to dub on a thin layer of fur onto which to dub the deer hair, now I don't do that.

Use a firm tension when dubbing, and keep an eye on what you've already dubbed onto the thread. Sometimes you'll just dub off old material as you're dubbing more on. Once the deer hair is on the fly, clip off some of the more obnoxious fibers so that your body has a realistic girth and taper. Sometimes I'll leave certain fibers that might imitate legs or antennae.

These flies will get chewed up and even more scraggly after a couple fish, which actually improves the fly's effectiveness. However, I usually keep an extra set of clippers on me so I can keep them trimmed.