Hello, I have two questions. I am pretty much a tying beginner although I have fished for trout for many, many years. I have recently tied up a bunch of new flies and was wondering is it recommended to soak them in a floatant prior to using them? On the stream I usually use a paste, but thought that putting them in a bottle of floatant and then drying them would make them more buoyant and maybe more waterproof once I got to using them on the stream. Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on this?

Secondly, as far as Mayfly tails go, I notice that many tiers take a small bunch of hackle barbs and tie them in as tails. However, in reality, Mayflies have only 2 or 3 tail fibers. Should I only be looking to tie-in the number of tails fibers appropriate to the actual fly? If so I guess I would have to use the artificial Microfibetts in the proper color. and do they work as well? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks much for your advise.