:?Got a Question, for all the “Fountains of Wisdom”
On the list. Yesterday while"Dunkin" some Dry’s in my jar of “Rain-X” I got to thinking.(Dangerous I Know) What is the best way to coat the flys is it Dunking or “painting” it on? also if’n you “Dunk” how do you “fluff” your feathers back up?
Looking forward to all your comments.
Thanx Bill 
If’n my feathers needs a fluffin, I don’t do da dunkin! I “spritzis” em with a “spritzin” bottle if’n dem feathers is dat delicate.
Joe da “Spritzer” :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Oh, I ain’t no fountain, just a little juice glass.
Just a little warning. Several years ago I tied up some parasol emergers. I treated the parasols with Rain-X and several days later when I went fishing, the parasols were still there, but the mono (tippet) that I had used to tie them on with was gone. Apparently there was a chemical reaction between the Rain-X and the mono. It ate away the mono. What I’m saying is that if you used any monofilament or tippet in the tying of your flies do not use Rain-X to waterproof.
Chuck
BTW the rest of the fly and the parasol was unharmed, but the mono was gone.
Please tell me a little more about Rain-X. Do you spritz or dunk (dealers choice)for a permanent floatant on dries after tying?
I’ve used Rain-X in the past and I guess I’m a “dunker”. I let the flies sit in the Rain-X for 5 minutes or so and then let dry. If the hackles and/or the tailing fibers were stuck together I used my bodkin to separate them. That takes less than 5 seconds so it isn’t a real problem. The Rain-X worked fine.
Joe
The few times I do pretreat flies I dunk them for a second then let dry for a few hours. I always use a fly floatent never that fuel that some use or rain x
Joe Fox
Guys,
Do yourselves a favor and actually TEST this stuff.
Rain-Ex is NOT a ‘waterproofer’ it’s a silicone based WAX. It’s designed to sheet water off of GLASS, and it won’t do that on a porous surface, quite the opposite.
I ran a ‘test’ that proved conclusively to me that Rain-Ex won’t help ‘float’ a fly or bug, actually the reverse.
What most folks do is coat their flies with Rain-Ex and then float them on some water in a bowl. The flies float a LONG time, therefore it’s ‘good’.
No one fishes like that.
What I did was coat some spun deer hair bass bugs with Rain-Ex (dunked) and some without Rain-Ex.
Put them in a bowl. Every time I passed the bowl, I’d ‘tap’ the bugs underwater. You know, what would happen if the fly was actually cast onto the water, or pulled under on a pickup, etc… They do get ‘wet’ when fishing with them.
After just few dunkings, the Rain-Ex coated bugs were sitting on the bottom of the bowl well before the UNTREATED bugs finally waterlogged and sank.
Just to be ‘sure’ I redid the test with some denser bugs and added an assortment of caddis and mayfly dries as well. Results were the same.
You can buy a silicone ‘waterproofer’ in an aerosol can at WalMart or just few dollars. It’s a big can, enough to ‘treat’ thousands of flies/bugs. It’s made for waterproofing clothing, boots, tents and such. Just spray it into a container to concentrate it, then dunk your flies/bugs into it and let them dry. This stuff is ‘permanent’, works better than the flytying products designed for this purpose, and it’s cheap.
In the same test as above, bugs treated with this stuff floated until the water evaporated.
Don’t just take my word for this. TEST the stuff before you do something like this to your flies.
Good Luck!
Buddy
The best stuff I have found to water proof dry flies is Sno-Seal Silicone Water Repellent made for boots and such.
I place my flies in it for about 5 minutes and let dry over night, floats them like a rubber raft and it’s cheap, about 4 bucks at almost any sporting goods store.
Yo, Buddy Sanders- I never use a floatant without testing it first. Advertising hype and reality often don’t meet.
Chuck
:? Got the idea for Rain-X from Al Campbell’s articles used it a few times with no problems, However have never really been happy with it, didn’t really seem to float the flies like I thought it should. Think I’ll try the H2O spray.
To ALL who responded THANKS for All the Info.
Bill
I really got the feeling from Al that he was a huge supporter of Rain-X. Just the same he would have loved this conversation and definitely put in his two cents. Thanks for the info on this. It got me to thinking. I’m trying the sno-seal this summer.