Flourescent Floss Test Yields Unexpected Results!

My title makes me laugh...I feel like I should be shouting "Extra, Extra, Read All About It!"

Don't forget, you can click on the pics to get the, er, big picture.

Here's the deal:  my good friend and incredible Miramichi River guide Renate Bullock (http://www.bullockslodge.com/ ) sent me a new fly she found out about recently, the Christmas Tree.  No, not the big spring streamer, this is a very interesting looking hairwing for summer.  Here's Renate's tie:

Obviously, the multi-floss butt has to be a big selling point to discriminating atlantic salmon, so, what with my penchant for buying and hoarding every salmon fly tying material known to humanity and all, I decided to let the aging scientist in me have a go at determining the best brand of floss for the job.  I chose three brands, including my fav, Gordon Griffiths SuperGlo:

I tied up three flies, one with each brand, minus the wing and hackle.  The body is peacock herl ribbed with oval silver floss (more about the body later):

They all look pretty similar to my eye, especially the Griffiths and the UNI.  Time to soak them all for a few minutes:

Hmmmmmmm, something's happening.  What is that bluish stuff surrounding the bodies??

Flies out of the bath:

I'll let you, dear reader, decide which floss looks best to you after a soak, but here's a little tip and the best thing to come out of this experiment:  DON'T BUY THIS STUFF:

I originally bought it because I like how the dyed herl really "popped" when tied on as a body.  I didn't know then that whatever company supplies BassPro with this stuff doesn't know doodly about dyeing materials!  The dye essentially all comes off the herl:

So...Gordon Griffiths is still my fave floss - although I wish they had a hotter red (I may try the pink, it really pops), but my three packages of BassPro's dyed herl are going in the trash.

This has been a public service announcement.