Drying your dry flies out

[buckybrews 0]

Hey ya'll,

 

I seem to remember seeing an item that you can put your dry flies in and shake them around to get the moisture off of them so you can keep fishing them, does anyone know what I'm talking about and if so, what is it. Thanks so much....tight lines!

[whatfly 0]

Sounds like you are thinking of Shimazaki Dry Shake, distributed by Umpqua. I'm told that a similar but more affordable product is used for waterproofing arrows. You'll want a patch of artificial chamois as well, which you can find in the automotive section of Walmart or the like.

[Crackaig 0]

Yes you can buy all sorts of chemicals to do this. Last I saw they cost about £8 a time here. Expensive and consumable. However I bet you have the means to dry your fly out just as well in your home now. You can get a lifetimes supply for pennies. Take a look at this article.

 

Cheers,

C.

[flytire 0]

silica desiccant packets

 

remove the contents of the packet and place it into an appropriate container (film canister etc)

[teamtrout 0]

http://www.orvis.com/p/hy-flote-shake-n-flote-renew/9x6x04

 

Heres the "real" stuff. But Doing what either of the previous two posts suggest work well and is basically free.

[wschmitt3 0]

That rubber band trick is pretty cool. I use The loon product Top Ride I think it is called and I like it right alright. I have heard very good things about Shimaziki (sp?) and I am probably going to give it a try this summer because I think that my current desiccant shaker is pretty much spent after two seasons of use.

 

A quick note on this type of product- I have made the mistake of attempting to dry a fly I have caught a fish on with out cleaning it off well and it has resulted in my fly being caked with the white powder from the desiccant shaker. So if you catch a fish on a fly and want to keep using it swish it around in the water. If its really slimed up which I find they often are submerge the fly and rub it between your fingers then dry it with a chamois patch then put it in your shaker.

[Stevester 0]

I have been using the same container of Frogs Fanny for several years. Granted I don't use dry flies that often but if you are going through a container in two seasons then you are fishing a lot more than most of us or you should double check the use instructions.

 

Steve

[wschmitt3 0]

Steve I fish a lot. May-October I shoot for 3-5 days a week some times all 7 if I'm lucky even if for only an hour or two. I live walking distance to three rivers that hold trout and a short car ride to a few more. The Connecticut River and Wells River are about 150 feet from my apartment. The Ammonoosuc River in NH is about a half mile or so I fish all three as often as I can.

 

Also being that these products absorb water and can only absorb a finite amount of water it isn't inconceivable that over two years of being in a fly fisherman's (or fly fisherperson's) pack they will draw in enough moisture to render them useless regardless of frequency of use. I don't know about you but I have used both a waist and chest pack and both got soaked regularly in both the river and rain.

[Stevester 0]

I don't fish quite that much but I still have never had a problem with Frogs Fanny accumulating water over time. If you think yours is getting saturated you could try gently warming it to drive out the moisture. I know this works with the silica based materials but I don't know about Shimizaki or FF. I lived in that area about 20 years ago. The CT was in my backyard and I drove over the Ompompanoosuc on my to and from work. The Waits was about 15 miles north and I could be on that little gorge on the Mascoma a few minutes drive from work.

 

Steve

[SilverCreek 0]

silica desiccant packets

 

remove the contents of the packet and place it into an appropriate container (film canister etc)

 

 

Bingo, we have winner.

Desiccants dry the flies. Desiccants absorb water so they CANNOT be a floatant that repels water. Silica gel is the solid desiccant that is in the desiccant packs. Silica gel is not really a "gel", but a porous crystalline form of silica that can absorb up to 40% of its weight in water. Silica gel can be "recharged" by heating it to 300 degrees F in an oven, but I just use several cycles in a microwave. You can buy silica gel in bulk at some florist shops since it comes in bulk containers to dry flowers for displays.

You can buy it in bulk as a flower drying agent that is used to make dried flowers.

Fly foatants cannot "dry" flies off. They are hydrophobic and repel water. Obviously, a compound that REPELS water cannot ABSORB water and dry a fly that is wet. Since floatant powder is repelled by water, obviously the water in a wet fly will repel the powder. The fly must be dried first and then coated with the floatant.

The powder floatant is NOT a desiccant but it is another form of silica (SiO2). It is FUMED silica which are microscopic amorphous crystals of silica. Silica is hydrophilic (attracts water) and so it would normally be a poor floatant. However, it can be treated to become hydrophobic (repel water) by coating it with silicon oil or siloxane. Since the treated fumed silica now repels water, it will repel water when used to coat a fly.

"Fumed silica serves as a universal thickening agent and an anticaking agent (free-flow agent) in powders. Like silica gel, it serves as a desiccant."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumed_silica

Note that hydrophobic fumed silica has been chemical treated to have siloxane groups.

"Hydrophobic silica is a silica that has hydrophobic groups chemically bonded to the surface. Hydrophobic silica can be made both from fumed and precipitated silica. The hydrophobic groups are normally alkyl or polydimethylsiloxane chains."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobic_silica

Treating a wet fly can be a two step process of drying with a desiccant and then with the powder or you can use the "shake and bake" products, Top Ride and Shimazaki Dry Shake. These products contain both silica gel and floatant powder. Examine either product and you will find crystals of silica gel and the fine hydrophobic fumed silica.

Top Ride and Shimazaki contain both silica gel and fumed silica. There are different grades of fumed silica but I have found NO difference in floatability. I believe the any PERCEIVED difference comes from the method of application. Frog's Fanny is applied with a brush. Top Ride and Shimazaki rely on the shaking process using the heavier silica gel crystals to force the fumed silca to coat the fly.

Feather powder is the same stuff as these powdered floatants. Feather powder is used to keep the feather fletching on arrows from getting waterlogged in the rain. you can buy it here: Feather Powder : Cabela's

As I mentioned above you can recharge the desiccant silica get. When you have used up all the fumed silica, pour the remaining silica gel crystals or spheres into a ceramic dinner plate or bowl. Microwave on high for about 30 seconds and that will drive out the water as steam. You may hear some popping as the water superheats and the sudden formation of superheated steam explodes the crystals. Do a couple of cycles in the microwave, allow the crystals to cool, put them back into the shaker container and add fresh fumed silica.

[wschmitt3 0]

Steve-

 

I have never fished the Mascoma I've been tempted a few times when I was at the L.L. Bean at the Power House Mall or on the rare stop at Upper Valley Outfitters in lebanon but never dipped my line. I have also never fished the Ompompanoosuc, both are on my check list for this summer though. I heard from a few people that the Ompompanoosuc was blown out really badly by Irene (not that the Waits and Wells River weren't but they are very close) and had yet to recover so I chose other spots to fish instead but I've heard that it is coming back nicely.

 

My whole thing with trying to dry these products out is that they only cost like $8.50. Is it really worth my time or the good possibility of making a mess to even bother with? Also once the powder part of it is gone (which it nearly is in the case of my bottle of "shake and bake") the cost to refill that part of it is $7 -$8 with either the feather powder or the loon blue ribbon fly powder. Why not just get a new bottle? Im not really a fan of the throw away culture and if your into making everything a DIY project more power to you but is it really worth the time?

[Stevester 0]

Will, in my case no, I spent enough time in research labs playing around with stuff. This is my hobby and I don't need to spend time reproducing products that someone else has already worked on. Although now that I read that again it does bring up the question of why I spend so much time tying flies that very seldom get used.

 

We moved out of the area about 20 years ago. I was sad watching the destruction that Irene brought to the area. I would never say the fishing in those rivers was great, but they were my home streams and I spent many happy hours learning their moods.

 

Steve

[SilverCreek 0]

Blue Ribbon Floatant = $7.50/bottle

Feather Powder = $7.99/bottle

 

Volume of Feather powder = 6 Blue Ribbon Floatant

Cost per refill for Feather powder = $1.34 vs $7.50 for Blue Ribbon

[wschmitt3 0]

Excellent point silvercreek. I didn't take note of the amount of powder in each or compare it to the amount of powder in the Top Ride. At 1/5 the cost its definitely a big saving if you need refill powder.

[thursthouse 0]

An alternative is to purchase an amadou fly dryer patch. It's essentially two pieces of fungus that you place the fly between..couple squeezes and the fly is dried out. I love it and use it all the time.