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3. Steamed flies

A lot of my dry flies have bent hackles and need to be steamed. I have always held them one at a time over a tea pot with a spout. When I told Anne that we needed a tea pot with a spout, she said (gory details omitted) to put them all in a double boiler and steam them all at once. Will that work, or will the flies get fried? Anne has a fear that I'll spend all winter steaming flies in the kitchen. I think she just wants me to make cookies.

I'm not sure the double boiler is a good idea, however, I've often put a few in a good sized tea strainer/sieve and steamed them over a simmering kettle (with a spout). We have a whistling metal kettle that works very well. At a simmer, it doesn't whistle quite as much, but it puts out a stream.

Mark

I think steaming your old flies is a good idea. I recondition my flies at the end of the year. Your from the neck of the woods that you should recognize the name Ray Bergman. In his book Trout Mr Bergman has a dry fly cleaner and floatant that is made from white gas(Colman )and wax. I think it the best that ever been made,been using it for 40 years but then I'm from the old school.

JaD

Steaming them should be fine for most, but dye colors can bleed and fade from the steam. So I wouldn't put any flies in together that might stain each other or any flies with materials of different colors that you don't want blending together.

-Shawn