Pêche truite:   Flies
Dry flies: Make them float!
  Having the dry flies to float high and emergers to float and stay that way is always difficult. A number of products are on the market, they have to be applied with the fingers (floatant) or spray on the fly .

In our search for efficient and reasonably priced products for flyfishing, we found this hydrophobic powder.
 (A similar product does exist "Frog's Fanny" sold in the USA) 
 How does it work?

 The fly, a black caddis, body, thorax and wing: black CDC The powder is applied with a small brush. on the body, thorax and wing. Then, between your fingers, pinch  the wing and body. The pressure will push the powder inside the feathers. Shake the fly to remove any excess powder, but the pinching  has forced inside the powder particles and they are trapped between the barbules and cling to the feather.
  They are these powder particles which trapped within the feather will make the fly float.
 In contact with the water, each small hydrophobic particle ( hydrophobic: which repels water) will put an air bubble around it, so creating  many , many bubbles which make the fly float.
 
 
The same with an hackled fly:

 The fly an Hawthorne, peacock herl body and black hackle The fly well covered with powder.
Then, between your fingers, pinch  the wing, hackle and body. The pressure will push the powder inside the feathers.
After pinching and shaking, most of the powder is gone, but enough is trapped on the body and hackle 
Hackles fibers are smoother than CDC, they still keep enough powder  to keep the fly afloat, but for fast water or waves on stillwater, you can increase the amount by putting some Mucilin (or other floatant)  on the hackle, more powder will stick to the grease and increase the floating effect. Again, with pressure between your fingers, force the powder inside.

  The caddis powdered, seen from the top and from beneath

 The hawthorne seen from the top and from beneath  A powdered bivisible seen from the top and from beneath

These 3 floating flies  were put in an aquarium and they were still  floating more than 3 days later.
More powdered flies

 An emerger shuttlecock tied with CDC oiler puff, wing and thorax powdered,  seen from the top and from beneath. You can see the shiny air bubbles which make it float, and still floating 3 days later! 
 

 A goldbead Hare's ear nymph, only the thorax  is powdered. This powder traps air bubbles making them look like the real thing.
 
 You can get this new product at the  Pechetruite Shop   in the feathers page.
To have minimum shipping cost , we ship the powder in a minigrip plastic bag.

To use it: put some of the powder in a small plastic can with a snap-on lid like a small film container or a small bottle. Get a watercolor brush (scholastic grade) to apply the powder to the fly.
 In the bag, you have enough powder to keep hundreds if not thousand of flies afloat

And while fishing, before applying the floating powder, dry your fly thoroughly with Dry Fly

 

 

 

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