floatant?

[Lord Paul]

Not sure what it's called but what do I need to buy to keep my dry flies floating - after a few casts they become "wets" and don't stay on he surface - a a beginner whta do I need and how much should I pay

 

[Shrek]

Gink is the most popular fly floatant used, but there are others on the market. Some people even use a very small amount of plain, old vaseline.

 

[Kevin Perkins]

Or you can try this herem'lud, send the butler out to get some, that'll save on the postage

 

[Fin the Fish]

M'lud, as a lowly peasant and all round lazy bugger I often don't bother with floatant, instead just make a few really swooshy false casts to dry the fly before casting proper. Sometimes when I can find the right pocket on my vest I have been known to use Gherke's Gink fly floatant, this stuff only costs a couple of quid and lasts for ages. All you need is a tiny blob on your finger, rub it between finger and thumb first to warm and melt it then apply straight to the fly. Though sometimes you need to dry your fly first with a false cast or two or by blowing on it or the gink wont stick.

If you haven't already got some line degreaser (think thats what its called!) to make your leader sink invest in some of this too, I use orvis mud as it seems to work longer than anything else but you can use actual mud if this suits M'lud. Trout have an amazing nack for spotting line when its caught in the surface tension of the water, even if theyve never been caught! So its totally essential for fishing dry flies, and I also never go fishing for carp on the surface without a pot of degreaser now too.

Hows the flyfishing coming on anyway, caught any more yet?

 

[Lord Paul]

Thanks Chaps

Fin I'll have to get some degreaser - I'd not known that this could be a problem -

Looks like another trip to the tackle shop (I don't send the butler - he doesn't impluse buy) - where I can buy the said item and other such things - also much needed (yer right ) coarse ifhing items

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

Made from silicon mucilin.

Try to get Dilly wax as used by that Yorkshireman Oliver edwards.

You may need to get an Armandou patch to dry the fly on first.

Line degreaseer of leeder sink, Fuller's Earth and washing up liquid.

Then you'll need a fly vest to put all this and gadgets in or hung from,then spend several hours per fishing session trying find witch pocket a particular item has been stored. Plus having to detangle all dangly items from flyline.

 

[Fin the Fish]

Dont sink the whole lot by the way Paul or the line might pull your fly under or make it hard to connect on the strike because of slack, just about 3 foot is fine. I also find it helps sometimes to degrease the whole lot (Edit- sometimes even the fly!) when youre using subsurface flies if they wont sink or get pulled to the surface by the floating line.

Hope this helps Your Lordship.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Paul,

I opt for Orvis too, both their floatant and Orvis Mud.

Very good products both, but remember to false cast a few times to dry out the floatant.

Any decent tackle shop, or online outfit ought to stock both of these, and expect to pay around £4.00 to £6.00 for a decent product.

I think tht Shakespeare used to do an aerosol spray floatant too, but haven't seen it in the shops for a while now.

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Leeda still do a spray Peter.I tend to use it for my trotting lines though prefaring the gink for the flies.