(Source: Trout Fisherman NOV 25 – DEC 22, 2010 pp. 96)

Robbie Winramgets tying with the latest dubbing blends from the Czech experts...

THE Czechs are masters of nymph fishing tactics, and as you would expect this expertise rolls over into their fly-tying as well. After all, what's the good of perfecting the technique if the flies don't match up to the job.

Czech nymphs and the Czech beaded patterns are their real speciality and what is most noticeable about these flies is the range of dubbings they use and the uniformity of quality.

The blend of very imitative subtle colours matched up with a little hotspot of colour is their telltale trademark and although a lot of their patterns are designed for fishing on rivers, the materials lend themselves perfectly for use in stillwater creations.

Two dubbing selections that recently caught my eye are fine examples. Both are from the Czech company Hends Products which produce a vast range of fly-tying materials, now more widely available to UK fly-tyers.

And they couldn't be more different. One is a natural fur with sombre tones, the other a very fine synthetic with plenty of colour and flash.

The Hare Dubbing selection box (£13.30) contains 12 colours ranging from the usual light and dark hare's ear through pale golden to dark olive and then onto browns and black. Everything you would need to make any type of buggy looking nymph is in the box. The dubbing is made up of both underfur and guard hairs with almost an equal mix and the fibres are reasonably long. You get plenty of material, tightly packed into each tube.

The Microflash selection (£18.10) is a very fine synthetic dubbing with a base colour and then a pearlised filament added to the mix. It is very easy to dub as it almost clings to the thread and wraps into tight ropes. If you want a more open dub you need to be quite gentle when rolling it onto the thread and use too much pressure.

The colour range is ideal for creating hotspots, collars and mixing with other more subtle dubbings for a better mix. The colour could be used on its own if you were creating some small lure patterns, but for nymphs I would always tone it down a bit.

The colours include yellows, greens, oranges, pinks, purples and reds, all fairly hi-vis.