Rotting tying materials?

[jifigz]

So I have barely fished in months and yesterday was the first time I had tied a fly in months. I was routing through my tying bin looking for something and noticed a greasy feel on the bottom. I rubbed it and smelled it with my fingers. It smelled HORRENDOUS! The only thing that I can think of is that something in there is actually rotting. Has anyone ever had this happen. I left the tote open and I'm getting ready to tie more right now and the odor has basically permeated a few rooms in my house.

 

[dryflyguy]

I once had a bucktail that smelled pretty raunchy.
But can't remember juice coming out.

Something you have in there probably wasn't cured right.
You'll have to pinpoint what it is, and toss it.
Then I'd clean the bin good, and leave the rest of the stuff out to air somewhere..

Might be a good idea to put a small satchel of mothballs in when you pack everything back up too

 

[Dave_W]

Some bird neck skins can get pretty greasy, even after many years. I've never had something like this occur however. It does sound like something is ripe.

You might want to lay your necks, skins, and tails out on some newspaper and check 'em after a day or three. This should identify the problem material. Then get a box of zip-lock bags and bag your skins and necks. If there are some that are greasy but that you want to keep, try salting them overnight on the skin side, then dusting them with some borax.

 

[nfrechet]

dont keep it in your house

take the bin outside and find the root cause of the problem and get rid of it. it will continue to stink up all of the other materials in that bin and make replacing materials even more expensive

find the offensive material(s) and wash with dish washing liquid and warm water. hang to dry. if smell persists, discard and buy new materials

bucktail is notorious for stinking up the package

 

[poopdeck]

Greasy, rotting, horrendous smell..... I'd throw the entire bin and it's contents away. Probably got mites and bugs and other such nastys as well. Not worth keeping in my book.

 

[sgrim]

Dead mouse in the material box?

 

[Bamboozle]

Rancid fat on an improperly prepared neck or piece of fur.

Find the offending piece and chuck it OR if you like it, scrape as much fat off of the skin and salt it heavily for several days, scrape & repeat several times times then do the same thing with Borax powder.

That should leach out the offending fat and render the piece usable.