Fly Tying the Dryer Lint Nymph

A simple nymph pattern using commonly available household materials, the Dryer Lint Nymph is a simple, all purpose buggy fly. Tie it with our without a bead or thread hot spot.
Hook: #12-18 nymph
Thread: Any color
Rib: Small wire, any color
Body: Dryer lint dubbing
Hackle: Partridge or any soft hackle
** Some of the popular books used on this channel: **
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: amzn.to/34U0rUe
Mike Valla's "Tying the Founding Flies," 2015, amzn.to/354oSir
Valla's "Tying and Fishing Bucktails..." 2016, amzn.to/3Jg2Mys
Valla's "Tying Catskill-Style Dry Flies," 2020, amzn.to/3DmYOjJ
Valla's "Classic Streamer Fly Box," 2020, amzn.to/3n3Vakf
Dave Hughes, "Essential Trout Flies," 2017, amzn.to/3lbCZYX
Hughes, "Nymphs for Streams and Stillwaters," amzn.to/3HC2jpc
Hughes, "Wet Flies," 2015, amzn.to/33ac3lQ
David Klausmeyer's "Favorite Flies," 2020, amzn.to/3oeSNMa
Randle Scott Stetzer's "Flies, the Best One Thousand," amzn.to/34Q15mp
Terry Hellekson's "Popular Fly Patterns," 1976, amzn.to/2L4IyvS
Dick Stewart's, "Flies for Bass and Panfish," 1992, amzn.to/3aGpFs1
Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible. The channel is named after one of my western Maryland homewaters, the Savage River. Thanks for stopping by.

[@mikemarchacos2532]

Hey Matt, your dryer lint fly will catch plenty of fish. I’ve been tying with lint for thirty years. I tie a Sulpher lint fly by taking all our yellow bath towels and the lint matches the pale yellow Sulphers in my area perfectly. My wife thinks I’m nuts. I’m always looking for strange material to use. The best beetle pattern I’ve ever used was tied with a coffee bean.

[@SavageFlies]

Cool to hear Mike! I've seen the bean beetle in at least one book but have never tried it. I love the idea of making different batches of dryer lint by just drying a few different colored towels. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@amywinkel911]

I make my own dubbing with fur from my German Shepherd. He is a long coat so he is an endless supplier! I mix in some different colors of thread cut less than 1/2 inch long and blend everything in a coffee grinder. I call it my hair of the dog, HOTD dubbing. It works great and started a fun conversation with my Veterans tying group.

[@johnkarges8829]

I actually have been tying the “dryer lint” wet for a couple of years, and now collect it regularly for future ties. I even call it the Dryer Lint.

[@charlieboutin3341]

Hi Matt. I was going to mention lint’s a good fire-starer and you covered it. Great fly! Now I don’t need my drawer full of dubbing.😂 My new knee is fantastic. Doing lots of wading and catching lots of fish. Bad news is local flyshop closed permanently. He’s 90 and decided to retire..he’s earned it! Now he has time to fish. Maybe we’ll go this week. Thanks a ton my friend. Really appreciate your channel. Have a great week. Spring is a couple days away! 👍👌🎣

[@zekragash4294]

Got into a caddis hatch, the females were laying their eggs, and trout were keying on them such that their mouths were slimy green. That night, I tried to tie something with a green ball at the tail, but didn't have any green dubbing. Looked down at my tennis shoes and saw the green ball fuzz all around the tongue and top of the shoe. Working like a charm.

[@BeyerOutdoors]

That's an interesting idea. Basically, it is dubbing. You can customize your colors depending on what you dry together. Thank you for sharing.

[@dennismutz8221]

After washing and drying, on low heat of course, a red wool Pendleton blanket. I had a large ball of beautiful red wool lint. You bet it ended up in my collection. Lol

[@diecastrejuvenation7779]

I've wondered about dryer lint. Now I know. You should fish that one and let us know how it does. Thanks Matt!

[@bobhammond8067]

Thats great!!! Todays laundry day, so dubbing time!!!

[@randymorris8740]

The cool thing about dryer lint is you can have different colors by what you dry, yellow clothes for sulfur lint, green clothes for olives, and so on... 😀

[@DarrellOlson]

Great option. The lint fly reminded me of a North Country Spider with a dubbed body. I'm going to give this a try.

[@Habaneroranger]

Basically a march brown spider. One of my favs!

[@SavageFlies]

Good call! I think you're right. :-)

[@edwardchavez5627]

Wow, I know it late mid night your time Monday into Tuesday. MATT dryer lent wow really .... I'll tell you absolutely amazing, the craziest I've tried was German shepherd hair after a wash and brush of my dog midas. The fly looks great and I hope you use it on your trip and give us some results maybe even a video in action. Safe journey and have a wonderful time. Thank Sir Matt.

[@edherrmann182]

Matt, why not? It’s material that can be substituted at no cost beyond the dryer. The stuff probably floats like cork. It will probably make a great substitute for muskrat if ribbed with thread or mono and used in adams dry flys. Probably useful in several different patterns. Put some angel hair in it to make it sparkle too. The properties of this stuff is unlimited. My brother gave me some of the fibers that’s used in woman’s sanitary pads before they add the thread fibers. It can be dyed and make excellent dubbing for nymphs and wet flies. We are surrounded by materials used in household materials that work great in fly tying. Just need to think outside the box. Great demo video!

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Ed! It did get me to thinking what other scrap materials around the house we could be using. I know there is a fly from berber carpet. And all kinds of foam things we could scrape up. Thanks for the idea of adding some sparkle!

[@oljimmy7.62]

I’ve used the fire starter trick lots of times. But I fill the tube with wax and then cut it into several pieces about the size of a tea light candle. Works really well.

[@SavageFlies]

Now that's a great idea Jimmy! One tube could make several fire starters! Thanks for this tip my friend. :-)

[@richardjones2129]

Thanks Matt. Ive never thought of dryer lint as a premixed dubbing. It definitely caught my attention. I think the gray would work on a very productive fly I tie n that is the venerable adams. They work well at the upcountry lakes where i live. I line dry my clothing so i might just try a lint brush to retrieve some lint r just have some friends save some for me. Thanks again for the great idea! God Bless n Fish on!

[@butchcunningham5344]

Nice tie Matt....I've been known to use the little dust bunnies rolling around the floor from cat fur in the house, works well...lol.

[@thomasdurkin8719]

I have used dryer sheets sprayed with a clear coat as wing material for a foam bumblebee that I tied.

[@SavageFlies]

Now that's a great idea Thomas! I just added this to my list of things to try. :-)

[@mikew5900]

Great! Now if I can just get my wife to dry clothes based on the color blend I need!

[@darrellbrown5528]

Matt - love the resourcefulness of this one. We taught our scouts to wrap those fire starter tubes with wax paper as well. Helped keep dry in the pack or when stored.

[@SavageFlies]

Now that's a great tip Darrell! I was wondering if I should drip some kerosene or low volatility flammable liquid on them before putting them in Ziploc sandwich bags. Wax paper might be a safer option!

[@paulmoore9180]

It was only a matter of time before the secret got out.Thanks for the toilet paper trick also!

[@SavageFlies]

Haha! And you know, I forgot to take my new fire starters camping with me last week. :-)

[@derrickblackburn9096]

Ha, I have wanted to try that for years. I was afraid my friend would ridicule me. Awesome tie, great suggestion for saving money. If its free, it’s for me!

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Derrick! Now I'm thinking we could even blend it with a natural material like squirrel or rabbit to get a truly unique dubbing mix. Thanks for the note!

[@derrickblackburn9096]

@@SavageFlies , my wife’s uncle is a raccoon hunter, he gave me a tail. The under fur is really thick, mix it with that for a thinner mix (maybe?)

[@AndysFlies]

Dryer lint was the first dubbing I ever tried, way before I had a clue what I was doing. Needless to say, it was not a success. Yours is fun!

[@jimgollach6202]

Would have never thought to use dryer lent to tie flys, but I know it definitely makes excellent fire starter. Thanks Matt. 👌

[@jamesvatter5729]

This "dubbing" may seem strange, but it works...and, yes, it does make excellent tinder as a bonus.

[@joeduca8582]

Dryer Lint 👍Good stuff! Glad someone made a video on it. Nice fly you tied too! I've purposely made that lint by washing and drying different fabrics. An old wool sweater made a beautiful light olive spectral dubbing. Dog bedding made spiky dubbing with the dog's guard hairs and underfur combined with shiny fibers of the synthetic bedding. It's a fun experiment that provides a useful "cleaned" product. I "wood" 😉imagine dryer lint makes a good fire starter, I always carried birch 🌳 bark in my daypack as a fire starter. Steel wool ignited by a 9 volt battery is good, just don't carry them together or it will spark in your pack. Hand sanitizer works too. Well enough of that, happy St. Patrick's day Matt! ☘Hope your black tie gala was fun, good luck on the camping / fishing trip. "Swing" that Lint Nymph like the Dorsey brothers band!

[@tomt5176]

G’morning Matt. It’s been a while since commenting on your videos. I’ve been back from Belize for two weeks, but I got a nasty virus to welcome me home. Feeling better now and catching up with notifications. BTW, my buddy and I both scored our first permit on a fly! Hope your well and enjoying your smoky mountains trip. Cool nymph from the laundry, who woulda thunk? Definitely keep that one away from the underwear drawer!

[@harleymandk]

I changed the Dryer Lint with cat hair from the brush...(got an angora cat) works fine ;-)

[@FlyTyer1948]

Oh my, it really is dryer lint. I saw the thumbnail pic & the title& thought you were kidding about the name. Heh. If you have the stuff & the color mix looks useable, why not use it? It does make an effective looking fly. Well done, Matt. Maybe you can start a business - Matt’s Environmentally Safe Dryer Dubbing. =}’ Have a safe & relaxing trip with good water & lots of fish, Bob

[@FlyTyer1948]

p.s. I saw some questions asking if the lint body would hold together when fished. Maybe applying it in a dubbing loop as well as using the wire would increase durability.

[@tonygarrett601]

Another great fly good luck on your trip

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Tony!

[@Fernando_Woolybooger]

Such a cool idea! Thanks for sharing this.

[@SavageFlies]

You bet Fernando! Thanks for the note my friend. :-)

[@leemowers9395]

Beautiful Nymph, you saved 3 cents for materials. Fun TIe, Thanks Matt for sharing.

[@SavageFlies]

Hahaha! You know it Lee. Fur dubbing is pretty cheap. But I guess if you were out of gray and needed a quick nymph, maybe this would work. :-)

[@garrettswoodworx1873]

@@SavageFliesAnd sometimes it is fun to do something like this just for the hell of it!

[@leemowers9395]

@@SavageFlies for fire starter, melt some old candlesticks or paraffin wax on the lint to help the fire to catch the wood.

[@mikeney5113]

I have friend that uses it all the time.he uses it in few patterns and it works.thank you for the tips and good luck on your trip.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Mike! I can't wait to get back down there. :-)

[@brianferguson9483]

Nice. I've wondered if lint would make good material 😊

[@frankmonroe8320]

Yup. I'm a lint saver.

[@jeffjackson5331]

Cool idea. I bet it would make a good Waltz worm too.

[@SavageFlies]

I think you're right Jeff! It does have that look.

[@jeffjackson5331]

@@SavageFlies yeah it does.

[@ZacharyBobbie1611]

Fantastic video Matt!! Thank you for sharing this pattern. I appreciate all that you do for the fly fishing community! Tight lines my friend! 😎🎣

[@SavageFlies]

Well thank you Zach! I appreciate the kind words my friend. :-)

[@davehall2160]

Looks like a good one, Matt I have one similar, I use tan ice dub . It is a killer Wish I was going with you next week

[@ybarrajc]

Nice one Matt, I have a dryer lint, stuffed in pill bottles in my GHB and go bags for fire starters. Most definitely gonna tie this one.

[@SavageFlies]

Great tip! I didn't think of pill bottles. I'm going to start saving the toilet paper rolls and as much laundry (and pooping) as we do around here, I'll bet I can make a dozen fire starters a month. 🤣🤣

[@garrettswoodworx1873]

Very Kool idea, thanks Matt. FYI: When you hung your bobbin to grab the rib material there is a bit of fuzz on the tip of the hook (2:25) so I'm guessing that's how the thread broke this time. Stay safe!

[@SavageFlies]

Yep Garrett, I just rewatched it and you're right! That's probably exactly what it was. :-)

[@johngallagher5821]

Nice application Matt. Guess the lesson here is you can sub just about any fiber.

[@SavageFlies]

I think so John! As long as you want something gray. It seems my dryer lint is always gray. Unless maybe I dried a batch of red towels. :-)

[@jimholland1592]

Good morning ☕️☕️ That really looks pretty good very creative. It work better thane the hair of my old beard🤣🤣🤣😉

[@SavageFlies]

Hahaha! I loved that old mountain man beard. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hope ya'll are well. I'll send you a picture of the Navy-Marine Corps ball Lisa and I went to last night.

[@jimholland1592]

@@SavageFlies that picture was amazing 😉

[@Jd-yc3gw]

Good morning Matt. Beautiful sunny morning here on the desert. Dryer lint and hair from our dog brushes I’m going to need more containers. My wife is going to look at me sideways more than she already does. 😀. I like that fly, mix it up with different color hot spots or beads…lots of options. Take care Matt. Have a great week. Looking forward to hearing about your trip. Are you taking the Airstream?

[@SavageFlies]

Oh yeah, I'll be taking the Airstream, which might be a bit overkill for a solo camping/fishing trip, but it really beats a tent (like last year). Small kitchen, heater, a table for tying and pulling out the laptop. And oh yeah, a TV, electricity and a regular size bed. Plus you don't have to put your shoes on and hike to a comfort station to go poo. :-) Now that I think about, not overkill at all!! Re the dryer lint- I just thumbtacked a Ziploc bag next to our dryer, with a note that says- "Hey family, put all dryer lint in here!" As much laundry as we do around here, that bag will probably be full in a week!

[@burtonbrocious171]

Good morning matt very creative pattern there tell us how it works im now growing my own polar bear substitute tks for sharing 😊

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! Thanks Burt. Speaking of polar bear, my one patch is so glass-like, almost looks like long strands of fiberglass. I wonder if anybody has ever used fiberglass as a dubbing. I'm not sure I'd want to try that though!

[@leroyskinner4206]

Another great video! Please let us know how it fishes and how durable the dryer lint ends up being. Thanks!

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Leroy! That's what I'm wondering too. If the lint is mostly cotton, it's probably not going to be super durable. But I'd say the rib will help a good bit.

[@davidveilleux4688]

Good day Matt . I've always wondered about lint myself. I'm curious how these flies fish as well. I would like to see how it works on a dry .

[@SavageFlies]

I think for a thin enough body it would work well in a dry fly, but I envision it will hold water more than synthetics that typically shed water better. I guess only one way to find out!

[@davidveilleux4688]

@@SavageFlies i agree thin body and maybe treat it with a floatant or scotch guard at the bench.

[@danielyost9126]

Hi matt good fly isn’t a dryer nothing more than a dubbing blender

[@Jd-yc3gw]

The industrial size dubbing blender. 😀

[@SavageFlies]

Great point! And mine makes it with all kinds of cat and dog hair as well. :-)

[@wahipple]

Hey matt i watch most if your videos as soon as they come out but what i noticed is that be the end if the day there people posting there idea of the same fly on Facebook i can say for sure that there at least 5 people that do this sadly they don't give you any credit but on a good note your a tend setter

[@SavageFlies]

Wow, I never knew that. Thanks for letting me know! I don't really use Facebook much so maybe I should check it our more often. :-)

[@user-mf2jd4mu1l]

👍💪

[@dahutful]

no reason it wont work. It'll absorb water and the lint kinda comes apart after awhile. But mine are in the trees by then, anyway, so its no problemo. Basic tailless nymph - good job

[@user-jg5ij3zx3q]

Will belly button lent work?

[@rickysmith9599]

Hmmm, I noticed when the jeans were washed I had blue lint 😂

[@richardbutts6512]

yep both the dryer lint works well on both fly and fire starter just add some candle wax or wax paper ! Good Luck on yer trip and Tight lines!!