Cab-0-Sil Advice ??

vincent p. norris wrote:
Inspired by the several posts on the merits of Cabot's Cab-0-Sil
TS720, I ordered a quart.

Now my question is, what the hell do I do with it? I've never used
Frog's Fanny.

Frog's Fanny comes with a brush and I think that's a big part of the method.
The powder is forced into the dubbing with the brush so it gets carried by
the fly longer. With FF you open the bottle, pull out the brush,
immediately lose 1/4 of the contents, then brush the fly vigorously. If the
fly is wet, you need to squeeze/wick out as much water as possible with a
cotton shirt sleeve, your bandana, or an amadou (or similar) first. This is
definitely one of the things a synthetic shirt is no good for (aso wiping
your glasses!)

I got the impression it's "painted" on the fly with a brush. Correct?
Does some of it actually stick to the fly, even being cast a number of
times?

Not really painted. You should work the powder into the fly.

Is it possible to buy a pocket-size bottle with built-in brush, for
carrying in the vest?

I'm not sure who mentioned this (Willi?) but am empty 'white out' bottle is
a good choice for a container. However, due to the overwhelming use of
computers to print documents, I think that stuff is used very little these
days so finding a supply of empties is problematic. Staples sells the stuff
for $.99 so it's not too big a deal to buy one just for the bottle. Make
sure you get the kind with the brush - a lot of it comes with a new and
improved foam applicator. I'm going to buy a bunch for distributing my
excess to friends. Of course, an unethical person might liberate a bottle
or two from their workplace.

Does the fly have to be re-treated after catching a fish? If so, does
one have to carry the hydrophilic version as well, for drying flies?

Yes, you definitely need to retreat after catching a fish. Rinse it off,
wick it as dry as possible, and brush it. In my experience, once the fly
has become waterlogged it's going to be necessary to treat it regularly.
Depends on the materials and the innate floatability/waterproofness of the
fly. Even though the stuff is hydrophobic, it seems to do some drying too.
That could be because of the large surface area of the crystals, of maybe
some remains hydrophilic after the treatment with the hydrophobic coating
(or whatever they do to it).

Is it used the same way on nymphs?

Same technique, except: I blow the excess off my dry flies, and leave the
excess clinging to nymphs. Others might do differently.

Thanks. vince

If you use Usuals you will love this stuff. I've been using it for 5 or 6
years and mostly use it on showshoe hare flies. I haven't tried to use it
on nymphs much because I don't do a lot of nymphing.
--
Stan Gula
http://gula.org/roffswaps