Preparing Your Flies

Do not take your flies out of the packaging and immediately fish them! I know its tempting but have a little self control!

Most of our flies that use natural materials (feathers, deer hair, rabbit strips) have been dyed to a not so natural color like pink or chartreuse. If you put these flies directly into salt water the colors will tend to bleed out. The Best thing to do is to take the flies and either in your sink or a Tupperware container soak the flies in warm water for ten minutes or so. After they have soaked you can lay them on a towel or paper towels until they are dry. This process of soaking them in warm water seems to lock in more of the color to the materials limiting how much the colors will fade.

When putting flies in your fly box try not to cramp them together, this will pack down the fibers of the fly ruining the profile of the fly and may cause it to swim oddly.

Maintaining Your Flies

After you have fished our flies in salt water do not throw them back in your fly box wet. You will ruin the fly you just used as well as the others in your box. Your best bet is to keep a little foam patch handy and hook them to that until they dry. Another trick is to have a second fly box or even a Tupperware container with paper towels in it to place your used flies. The little silica packs you get when you buy shoes and what not, do wonders for keeping moisture out of your fly box as well!  

Once you have got back to the boat ramp or back to your house take your used flies and rinse them in warm water. Even though we use stainless steel hooks on most our saltwater flies, rinsing the salt off will help ensure that the hooks do not corrode over time.