An aspect of fly fishing that isn’t always given much attention is what happens to the fly once you’ve caught and landed you fish. The fly may no longer float well. But you can dry them sometimes and made to float again by "false" casting by casting the fly back and forth in the air. If you are new to fishing you will doubtless have seen some anglers swishing their rods back and forth in this way. You might be thinking it’s some esoteric, elegant-looking aquatic artform. In reality, though, it’s entirely possible that these apparent show-offs are simply drying their flies for the next foray!
Or it seems silly and pointless to you to false cast back and forth like Luke Skywalker learning to use a lightsabre, there are other options less exhibitionistic. One of them is to dry the fly with a small piece of reusable absorbent towel, an amadou patch or chamois. After drying it in this way place and shake it in a container full of fly "dressing"; a hydrophobic solution. One popular way to dry a fly that stubbornly refuses to float is simply to replace it with another one, similar or identical, until the original can fully dry – just rotate through a set of flies.
Drying the laundry may not be exactly fly fishing, but it’s absolutely necessary if you’re planning to catch fish.
