making biot bodies more durable

[spiralspey 0]

I've been tying dry flies with biot bodies for a few years now. They've pretty much replaced dubbed body flies for me, at least for mayfly imitations. My issue is the durability. I put a layer of head cement under the biot before I wrap them to make them more durable, but after a few fish the biot is often getting frayed. I wonder if there is something else I could put under the biot to help it from coming apart that wouldn't add too much weight. I thought about counter ribbing with thin mono, or coating the body with something but that just seems excessive. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Kimo 0]

Have you tried coating with Loon Flow, CCG Hydro or Deer Creek Thin?
I also lay down a thin film of CA before I wrap the biot.

Kimo

[whatfly 0]

Like Kimo, I use CA glue (brush on) under the biot and that helps. I do not like overcoating the biot, however, because of the effect on flotation and appearance. No reason why you could not use a rib to reinforce, nylon or small wire. Easiest solution is of course to tie more flies.

[spiralspey 0]

I'll try some brush on CA. I'm a little hesitant to put anything over the biot because, like you said whatfly, it might effect floatation. I was thinking of trying a thicker head cement, like hard as hull which I use for glossy steelhead flies, but I don't like waiting for the stuff to dry or having it ooze out when I cinch down the biot. The stuff I use now is water based, is quite thin, and absorbs right into the thread underbody. I have no issues with continuing to work on the fly right after using it, and I assume CA would be similar except maybe the brush on type would maybe be a little thicker and squeeze onto every surface and maybe make a better bond?

[mvalbano 0]

Hi Spiralspey,

 

I believe the issue you have is because your using head cement instead of super glue. For a task like this you should be using a very thin coat of super glue like CA as others have said, head cement is basically varnish and not adhesive at all, if you want to glue something down use super glue and it should make that biot a lot more durable after you catch fish on it.

 

Mike

[vicrider 0]

I only wish I could complain about fish tearing my flies up. :-) Like said, CA not head cement.

[flytire 0]

apply crazy glue to the hook sank and wrap the biot. then overwrap with a fine gold/silver wire

[spiralspey 0]

Well that makes sense. I guess using a glue instead of a varnish will probably get the job done in much better fashion. I can't wait to tie up some bulletproof dries that'll hold up to more abuse than the ones I'm currently using. Thanks guys.

[Dave G. 0]

I use CA on the shank/thread base also.

[Piker20 0]

I use the CA glue and fine wire rib and happily tie more if the fish love them enough.

[spiralspey 0]

Bought some zap-a-gap brush on CA yesterday and I'm going to try it out later today. It's cloudy and sprinkling right now, perfect weather for little olives to hatch, so I may need to sneak down to the river this afternoon instead of tying.