I tend to put wet hooks back in my boxes. The only issue that I have had is with those water tight boxes when I store a wet hook in them and then don't fish for a while. Usually if I am on the water a couple of days a week even putting soaking hooks back in the box I seem to be just fine. I don't always remember, but I tried to make a few false casts before putting them back in the box, but I have been in places where I didn't want to even take the time to do that since fish were right infront of me and the fly is dripping when it goes in the box.

I'm not saying what I am doing is good and I think that using a patch is probably a good idea, I'm just saying what I actually do. My fishing partner on the other hand has a special box with lots of vent holes to put used flies in until they dry to go back into his regular boxes.

If you are having a lot of hooks rust, but a different brand, but I have not had issues with the major players in the hook business.