FLYDRYER made from a film cannister, a piece
of nylon window screen and a length of
old flyline.
I got the idea for this from the March/April,
1993 issue of The American Angler. Charles Byers
of Fairview Heights, Illinois had an article on
making these fly dryers in the Tying Tips section
of the magazine. I use Mr. Byers' method with a couple
changes. I use nylon screen, old fly line in place
of monofilament and smaller windows. Here's how I
make a fly dryer:
The materials are a empty film cannister with cap,
a 4 in. X 1 3/4 in. piece of nylon window screen
and a 16in. length of old flyline. The flyline
should be cut with a taper at each end. I use a
candle to heat a home made bodkin, with which I
make holes in the cannister. Homemade bodkin because
the holes must be big enough to let the fly line
pass through. I made mine from a piece of stiff
wire and a dowell.
First make 2 diametrically opposite holes in the
cannister cap, about 1/8 in. from the edges. Put
the cap on the cannister (for the 1st one you make)
and put 2 holes, about 1/4 in. apart, in the cannister
directly under each cap hole. See the cannister on
the LEFT of the picture. The fly line will go through
these holes.
See the 2nd cannister from the LEFT in the picture.
The 4 holes in the middle of the cannister are at
the corners of a rectangular "window." There will
be 2 windows, one on each side of the cannister.
These holes are also made with the heated bodkin.
I cut the windows with a utility knife, starting at
the holes and trimming to get about a 1/2 in. X 5/8
in. window. See the 2nd cannister from the RIGHT.
Now place the screen inside the cannister. It will
overlap a bit. Position this overlap at 2 of the
flyline holes. Push one end of the flyline thru
the bottom hole and thru the overlapped screen
from the outside of the cannister. This is a bit
tricky, the taper cut should help. Push about 2
inches thru and tie an overhand knot in the line.
Then pull it back so the knot stays inside. Now
thread the line thru the top hole and overlapped
screen into the cannister. Thread the line up thru
a cap hole and down thru the other cap hole. Thread
the line thru the screen and top hole (from inside)
of the cannister, then thru the bottom hole and
screen into the cannister. Tie a knot. Pull the
line back and the fly dryer is finished. Slide
the cap down the line unto the cannister.
Loop the line unto your vest and use the dryer
instead of the wool patch. ~ Bob Stuart
Please check out the Fly Tying Section, on the Bulletin Board, here at FAOL too.
If you have any questions, tips, or techniques; send them to
publisher@flyanglersonline.com
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