ff7,… I am wondering how the second powder you mention would dry off the fly if it doesn’t absorb water, which is what I would want it to do as with the first type, then shake and blow off the residue. It would seem to me that the ‘good’ stuff might only 'coat the fly and not dry it and any bouyancy it gave the fly would then have to support the added weight of the water soaked fly. It would seem to me that the water repellant type would be applied when the fly is first attached and could not be used again untill the fly was totaly sun and wind dried? How am I thinking wrong? You seem to have a good handle on this stuff as far as it’s properties are concerned…Thanks,…Bob
I think some of you are confusing a desiccant with a floatant.
Frog Fanny or any similar fumed silica product, be it hydrophilic or hydrophobic fumed silica is different than Silica Gel which is purely a desiccant.
Frog Fanny is not supposed to be used as a drying agent but as a hydrophobic agent or water repellent/AKA flotant. It works BEST on a fly that is DRY.
The problem with using either a hydrophobic or hydrophilic fumed silica product as a drying agent is that it is so fine a powder that it clumps and sticks to a soaked fly body and is difficult to get off. If it is a hydrophilic agent like regular Cab-o-Sil, the stuff you cant get off the fly will absorb more water and make it sink faster. A hydrophobic agent like Frog Fanny, put on a soaked fly can actually trap moisture that remains on the fly under the coating applied.
Silica gel on the other hand absorbs the moisture but the crystals are large enough so that any that stick to the fly can easily be shaken off. After drying with silica gel, treating the fly with Frog Fanny or hydrophobic fumed silica OR any liquid floatant like liquid Mucilin will yield much better results; and a fly that floats better than one that just treated with liquid floatant or Frog Fanny alone.
Bob,
Frog’s Fanny doesn’t absorb water…it displaces it. The residue left on the fly continues to displace water, thus promoting it’s floating qualities.
Think about it a bit. If you had a residue on your fly that absorbed water, eventually it would cause the fly to sink. With the standard dessicants, the crystals are large enough so that they don’t stick to the fly, and a false cast or two will remove any residue. The hydrophillic silica, however, will cling to the fly after drying it, and will absorb water.
If you have some FF or equivalent handy, work it into a rough dubbed fly, put it in a glass of water, and hold it under. That will give you a pretty good idea of how FF works.
Yes, I still have a couple of bottles of the original when it was on ebay from the guy who made it. Think there were 2 of them to start. Actually I gave them The Charlotte Fly Fishing Show promoters address and suggested they get a booth as he was from that area… I’ve rubbed it in on fresh flies but it didn’t work quite as good on soaked flies as it seemed to stick to it and turn the fly white… Thanks for replying,…Bob