In several threads here and elsewhere lately I’ve seen references to dry fly body materials that ‘absorb water’.
How many of you ‘waterproof’ your flies after tying with one of the many ‘permanent’ chemicals availalbe today?
Do you find any ‘drawbacks’ to this application.
If you don’t do this, why not?
Thanks,
Buddy
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Buddy:
I am interested in the responses you may receive on this topic. I been talking about running the experiement with treated and untreated flies, but once I get tying, I don’t get around treating any flies.
Dr Bob
I’ve been using flies treated with “Watershed” this year. You just apply and wait at least 24 hours for the stuff to dry. While fishing [or after catching a fish] just false cast 2 or 3 times and you’re good to go with a floating dry fly. No odor that I can detect [after they dry; there is an odor when you first apply the stuff].
So far this stuff has worked well. I also tie with the artifical dubbing that “doesn’t soak up water”.
Donald
Buddy,
I started a thread a couple of months ago about this that turned into a fight about why anybody would not use products that were “made” for fly fishing versus trying something different and new AND might work better. I have used Hydrostop and Watershed before and were not satisfied with their results. Rain-X was suggested and it works very well, much better than those other two products. I bought some silicone waterproofing liquid that was recommended in one of this site’s Tying Tips, but haven’t had the opportunity to test it yet. I will next week. Thompson’s Water Seal had been suggested for years by tiers. I tried it and it discolored some materials and stayed oily. However, after I dried and blotted the flies with a cloth it floated them like a champ. Too much work for me, though.
Joe
Loon’s Hydrostop. Its fantastic. Dunk, and let dry.
I keep a small tupperware container my wife got at a party on my table with a small amount of RainX in it. It’s small, maybe 2" across and 1 1/2" deep. After tying a fly I put it in there and shake it a couple times and then hang it to dry. Never been disappointed yet.
silocon spray. Tie the flies, stick to a stick and spray them. Let dry overnight and you are done. I usually have to replace the fly cause it is chewed up rather than cause it doesnt float.
THere are many ways to skin this cat.
Have fun, Jeff
Silicon water proof camp spray, that is.
Just a word of caution when using Rain-X. Last spring I tied up some parasol flies and used Rain-X to treat the parasols. The parasols were tied on using tippet materiel. Several days later when I went to the stream to fish with them, the tippet materiel had dissolved. The flies them selves were OK, but all the tippet materiel was gone. So, if your using a mono type thread do not treat your flies with Rain-X. BTW I’ve used this product for several years and have never had any problems except this one.