nymph wing case coating

[alatt]

Which do most of you use to coat your wing cases, uv clear finish, super glue, or a product called fusion which is an epoxy that does not need to be mixed. The epoxy seems better if only that there is no light to worry about.

 

[sandfly]

none of the above, to cheap... sally hansons top coat works for me or tulip gelles in clear..

 

[dubthethorax]

Sally Hanson Hard as Nails, or UV Epoxy. Depends on the type of nymph.

 

[Coughlin]

LOL. used to spend "Orvis" money on the Head Cement products. The guys above are right on. Sally Henson Hard as nails is hands down my choice for anything that needs some hardening.
Coughlin

 

[1hook]

Can Sally Hansen be used for coating wings on wet flys?

 

[lv2nymph]

Coughlin wrote:
The guys above are right on. Sally Henson Hard as nails is hands down my choice for anything that needs some hardening.
Coughlin

Absolutely...
Except nowadays it sometimes comes up missing and mysteriously winds up in my daughters room. :-?

 

[Chooch]

When I use it, I still use flexament. Most of the time it is just a double thickness of turkey tail or whatever other feather I use.

1hook wrote:
Can Sally Hansen be used for coating wings on wet flys?

Why would you want to coat wetfly wings? Better question, why are you even using quills for wetfly wings? They are far to fragile and though they give a decent profile I am a much bigger fan of materials that move. Next time you tie a wetfly try substituting a CDC oiler puff, or a few barbules of rhea or small ostrich plumes, or a tuft of marabou of the same color. They will last much longer and give a lot more life to the fly.

To answer the original question, I would say it is a bad idea. I think it will stiffen the fibers too much thus create a propellar effect when swinging them. I coated a couple of wings on some cut wing sulphurs a few years ago in an attempt to toughen them up. After casting the fly my tippett became a coiled twisted mess because of the fly spinning while casting. I would think it would have a similar effect on the wetfly under water.

 

[shakey]

IT is not unusual to put a drop of head cement,spar varnish,or sally hansen's on the tip of a wetfly wing to help it keep its shape.


famed catskill tyer ray smith was a proponent of this.

some people do that to hornbergs too.shape the back end to a point then fix it that way with head cement.

i usually use SH for the question in the original post.second choice would be spar varnish,which is my first choice if i have it open for something else.

 

[shakey]

oops.i usually use SH or spar varnish IF i do coat a wing case.i would rarely coat a wing case.i'd probably tye a flash back in that case.

 

[turkey]

shakey wrote:
IT is not unusual to put a drop of head cement,spar varnish,or sally hansen's on the tip of a wetfly wing to help it keep its shape.

yes.

I don't put anything on wingcases. they seem ok. I could see doing it on a flashback pattern but I prefer turkey or pheasant barbs. less is more for me.

 

[gfen]

Chooch wrote:
Why would you want to coat wetfly wings? Better question, why are you even using quills for wetfly wings?

I'll rise to this bait.

Presentation, or because you want to have upright quill wings on a fly as you're fishing down not up, and anything else would be crushed by current.