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If we could get Steve out of his Theater Room or away from his Aquariums ... that would be an epic trip.

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1 hour ago, mikechell said:

If we could get Steve out of his Theater Room or away from his Aquariums ... that would be an epic trip.

We got a lot of time to plan. You know how to get ahold of him?😃 This could be a real thing.

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On 3/31/2020 at 11:06 AM, flytire said:

what is your experience up til now without using anything? got/getting bugs?

in 40+ years of fly tying ive never used moth balls in any of my materials and never had any bugs and never smelled like grandma's attic

keep all material sealed in their original packaging and there should be no problems

dont introduce outside materials from hunter friends into any of your materials unless they have done the proper preparation of the materials

 

clove01.jpgil_570xN.968119080_iefi.jpg

 

use clove spice or cedar chips

I agree with Norm, 12 years of tying and I've never had "bugs".  I keep all my feathers in furs in sealed containers with the exception of a few long pheasant and peacock tails.  Are these things common to tying materials?

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Twice in the last twenty years I have bought bird pelts from fly two different shops (with brand names on the bags) that developed bugs soon after purchase. I saved the starling because I looked at it often, I lost 80-90% of the golden pheasant because it was stored immediately on return home.  I recommend deep freezer for any new bought, killed or found fur or feather.  Three days to a week in the deep freeze followed by thaw to room temperature followed by another round in the freezer should kill the eggs and larva. Several hours of exposure to sunshine will also kill most larva. As a side note I have never had any of my home killed or hunter gifts become infested- the carpet beetle and clothes moth don't live on live animals, although they may live in the nests eating cast off feathers, horn  or hair. They get into the dead dry skins in the shops, storage or our homes. 

What I use  lots of is 20 Mule Team Borax, it kills bugs by a couple methods, does me no harm and is rather odorless.   The nice furs Mark sent me last year got a dish soap bath + rinse followed by a Borax solution soak and they have been fine since then, although I suspect the bison beard had some bugs starting to hatch upon arrival. My zip-locks, storage boxes and tubs all have a dusting of Borax in them, enough to be easily seen. If any new beetles attempt to invade they will walk through that  Borax and die and if any larva hatch they will eat some of it with the skins and die. The shed where I store stuff also has a good dusting of Borax on  the floor and on all shelves, Borax kills lots of bugs besides beetle larva. I first used it in getting rid of German roaches and later used it in fur handling then adopted it in my fly material storage.

You might want to know that moth balls come in two varieties naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene with differing effectiveness and specific human  hazards. But neither moth ball nor cedar chips kills or repels  clothes moths nor fur beetles.

Edit- almost skipped the question; no in the 20-30 years that used moth balls heavily I never had fish refuse my flies for that reason, or at least it didn't happen often enough that I ever noticed. I haven't used them for several years and got skunked three times recently, maybe I should go back to them.

And yes Mike the moth balls do smell kinda nice, but I grew up wearing woolens that had been summer stored in moth balls for a few generations and handed down. Cedar and cloves smell nice too and are less of inhalant problem.

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Hi Group,

We use two methods. In our long-term storage boxes we use no-smell moth "blocks." We get them at Lowe's; they are white and round (about 3" in diameter, don't remember the name). We use Red Man chewing tobacco in our short-term storage boxes. It does a good job but is only effective for about 6 months. Take care & ...

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Al, it has been 3 yrs since I smoked tobacco.  Suddenly enjoying memories of Red Man Looseleaf chew.  Might have to see if I can find some when I get out. :)  

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Good evening All,

Just something I tried after the second infestation in 40 years.  I found closet liner in Aromatic Cedar in 3 foot planks.  One box did the bottoms of every container I have and still have more than half the package left over.  That was better than 10 years ago and have had no issues to date.

 

Michael

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On 4/2/2020 at 8:08 AM, mikechell said:

Am I the only one who doesn't mind the smell of moth balls?  I don't have enough natural materials on hand to worry about bugs.   Since I'm good with the moth ball aroma, I'd likely use them if I did have bugs.

I love the smell as it reminds me of dads tying rooms (plural).  In the 60s my father was a production tyer and would process tons of bucktail and a bit of feathers dyeing and selling the materials wholesale.  Moth Balls are necessary to deter bugs & rodents. Now in my 50s I continue with the jig business but purchase most of my tails from the typical places - I do however have bags of tails 50 - 100 count that I keep on hand throughout the year.  I continue to use moth balls where I put a few around once a year and have only seen an issue once in a small single bag where cut worms would chew the skin of the bucktail and the hair would fall apart.  My kids now joke about how my tying / storage area smells like moth balls but I am sure when Im dead and gone the smell will continue the good memories and time we had tying & fishing. All my fly tying materials which are much more costly are kept in ziplock bags in totes. I have never had a problem with bugs.

Oh, and 50+ years of jigs the fish didnt seem to notice the smell.

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