Pretreating dry flies

dudemanspecial

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Does anyone else pretreat their dries with floatant at home before they even get in your box? After I tie a batch and let the head cement dry, I put a dab of gink on the bodies and squeeze it in. It really cuts down on fussing with keeping them from getting water logged more than when I treat them right before I cast. I learned this from the A.K. Best book Fly Fishing with A. K. It's a great read.

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It sounds like a good idea
But didn't turn out to be very practical for me.
After doing this for 40 + years, I just have too many flies built up to keep track of what's treated and what's not.

And I did try it one time.
Quite a few years ago now, a fly pretreatment called Water Shed came out.
Claimed to waterproof flies by putting one drop of it on right after tying.
But the flies that I treated with it didn't float well at all
 
It sounds like a good idea
But didn't turn out to be very practical for me.
After doing this for 40 + years, I just have too many flies built up to keep track of what's treated and what's not.

And I did try it one time.
Quite a few years ago now, a fly pretreatment called Water Shed came out.
Claimed to waterproof flies by putting one drop of it on right after tying.
But the flies that I treated with it didn't float well at all
Do you put anything on them before you use them on the stream?
 
I make my own floatant - a mixture of lighter fluid and mucillin paste
Tie the fly on, dunk it, and after a few false casts, ready to go.

After catching a few fish and the fly gets waterlogged, I dry it in silica crystals.
Then another floatant dunk. Good as new
 
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