Gehrke's Gink question.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (DrLogik) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:20:12 GMT

Corlay,

It should be like water, not at all viscous. I use naphtha actually. My stuff is clear and liquid when it's a fresh batch.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (corlay) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:48:48 GMT

DrLogik wrote:
In the warm-weather months I use Ray Bergman's formula...I'm a believer! (parafin and white gas/naptha).

I mixed-up my first (very small - 1.5oz.) batch as a test,
over the weekend.

question: so what consistency am I shooting for with this mixture?
light on the parifin to keep it pretty liquid?
or more parafin to get more of a wet-globby-pastey consistency?

...

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (LuckyStrikeV) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:39:50 GMT

Seeing this thread made me think about a great time back in the 80's when myself and my favourite flyfishing pal (my Dad) and I fished for the 1st time on the Firehole river.
It was a smokin hot day in June, but was a fair bit cooler when we started out that morning.
Anyone who has fished the West Yellowstone area knows how incredibly primal the area is. Herds of elk, bison and various creatures roam virtually undisturbed, except by a few tourists who dare to get too close...

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (SEKG) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:36:31 GMT

ttrotter wrote:
Word has it that you should never put it in plastic- it will "melt" the plastic. Glass or metal container only. Tightly sealed with metal lid if at all possible.

Preferably in a Mason Jar with a glass lid. Have you ever noticed leave a can of White Gas sitting around to long it will get less and less without ever opening the metal container, when you buy it make sure you get a full can.
...

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (16 pmd) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:24:13 GMT

Frog's Fanny = hydrophobic fumed silica. Available online for $4-5/quart bag (lifetime supply). Used to thicken epoxy. Add about equal amount of silica gel crystals (the finer the better) as dessicant (drier) and you can dry and float your dries - same stuff as in fly shop formulas.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (FWdB) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:11:05 GMT

I'm a Gink user, and a fan of the stuff.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (DrLogik) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:14:16 GMT

Carbon Tet was great stuff for utility but had a sinister side also. I think that old Orvis Superflote utilized carbon tet....it sure smells like it...sweet and arromatic.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (gloucesteroldspot) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:08:43 GMT

Back in the early 1970s that great English inventor of fishing tackle Dick Walker got together with a chemist friend, Arnold Neave (who'd developed many of his photographs used in his Angling Times column) and created a product called Permaflote. It consisted of paraffin wax, dimethicone and silicone dissolved in carbon tetrachloride, and was sold in little wide-topped glass jars so you could dip your fly in. It was finally taken off the market about ten years ago due to health concerns...

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (andre49) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:37:19 GMT

I fish primarily CDC and snowshoe hare so I use Frogs Fanny and love it.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (oneculm) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:22:06 GMT

Any decent hardware store sells naptha.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (corlay) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:05:42 GMT

DrLogik wrote:
I'm a believer! (parafin and white gas/naptha).

I want to believe!
I even have my 1 quart mason jar,
and an old ~1oz. Bayer aspirin bottle (glass with metal screw cap...) at the ready...

but,
where to buy white gas/naptha?

I went to my local Gander Mountain store today,
and no Coleman fuel. They did have a lot of "K-1" kerosene,
that the label...

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (ttrotter) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:26:02 GMT

This forum never ceases to amaze me! Thanks for all these responses. I have made up some of the Bergman formula and conducted my own limited experiment. DrLogic, you were right. Fly pops back to surface like a cork! I'll be testing some of the other formulas/products mentioned here also. Oldflies, welcome to the forum. Hadn't thought of the RainX, but I'm going to try it! If that stuff can make it rain backwards, should work like a charm.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (Oldflies) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:43 GMT

Try some Rain-X, it even works on cdc. My thought was that anything that stays so well on a windshield, would have to work on a fly. You can also soak your fly prior to fishing, it works for me.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (DrLogik) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:08:55 GMT

Andy,

I had heard that some guides out west put red tin mucilin in white gas to make a liquid. Have not tried or tested it but it sounds as though it should work pretty well.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (krautcaster) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:54:46 GMT

Didn´t someone ask about how Red Mucilin performs with flies somewhere in this discussion?
I like it a lot as a fly floatant too, allthough it can be a pain to carry in high temperatures.

As I use it to dress my silk lines I carry a tin of the stuff anyway so it´s also pretty economic for me. (Dumped my vest last year after a friend´s kids ran to me streamside, mistaking me for their dad. I had to take off my shades to convince them that I was not him. With our caps, vests,...

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (oldfishbrain) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:34:38 GMT

Over the years I have used either Green Mucilin or Albolene. They work well.
They are loaded in my proprietary "floatant applicator" (see picture ) which allows me to apply the floatant without touching it, or the fly. The little brush also makes it possible to apply the floatant selectively to the wing, abdomen and tail/shuck depending on the parts of the fly I want on the surface...

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (eastprong) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:50:35 GMT

Art Flick, in his classic Streamside Guide..., talks about dissolving mucilin in carbon tetrachloride as a floatant. Carbon tetrachloride was widely used in dry cleaning, before it was discovered just how nasty the stuff is on human health.

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (ttrotter) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:39:01 GMT

DrLogik-- sent you a PM
Thanks,
Tom

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (gmflyfish) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:37:52 GMT

Parks has a product called Fly Sauce. Been using it for 40 years. It is good and it does not damage the finish on a bamboo fly rod. I buy it in bulk and all of the board members who come to Montana refill their bottles. It is great - cleans the fly and floats it fine. Do not smoke around it though. Contains carbon tet. You must keep it warm the parafin solidifies in cold weather. It is great here in Montana todoy highs in the plus thirties

Gregg

Re: Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (gmflyfish) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:37:52 GMT

Gehrke's Gink question.

feeds@yuku.com (ttrotter) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:10:42 GMT

I've been using George Gehrke's Gink fly floatant for as long as I can remember, and just got to wondering if you folks had found any other product that does as good or better job than Gink? Just what floatant do you use?
Thanks,
Tom