| Author | Comment | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 ttrotter |
Gehrke's Gink question. |
Lead | ||
|
Posts: 823 01/27/2009 10:10 Moderator |
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 |
|||
|
|
||||
|
corlay.fiberglassflyro... |
#1 | |||
|
Posts: 12 01/27/2009 10:26 |
When I started fishing dries, I first used a spray-floatant by Loon Outdoors;
and that stuff couldn't keep a fly floating, even if the body was made of styrafoam, IMO. So,after a few frustrated outings, I picked up some Gink, and have never looked back. The stuff works wonderfully... PS In a pinch, those tins of musclin all you silk lines users carry shuold work to float a fly, no? |
|||
|
|
||||
|
joaniebo |
#2 | |||
|
Posts: 1761 01/27/2009 10:44 |
I went to my local Walgreen's store and bought a big jar (16oz, or something like that) of Albolene for $8 or $9 .... I heat the jar in warm water and then
pour it into an old floatant squeeze bottle (Loon, I think) .... and that was a couple years ago .... have no doubt that there will still be Albolene left when
I go to the big trout stream in the sky ...... good floatant and, since it's a hand cream / make-up remover, it's good to use when hands get chapped or
cracked after fishing ..... try that with some other floatants!
Cheers and Safe Fishing Bob |
|||
|
|
||||
|
dnester |
Fly Floatant | #3 | ||
|
Posts: 31 01/27/2009 11:04 |
Tried them all. All work as intended...I fish mostly size #14-#22 dry flies. Some floatants are too thich, like vaseline in consistency.They are good in
certain applications, ie. -skating a caddis fly across water to induce a strike. Temperature is a factor, some floatants thicken or become Runny with
temperature change.They all seem to float the fly. How long the floatant remains on fly and continues to "float" fly is the factor. The initial
application of floatant to a fly that has just been selected from one's fly box should be the longest lasting. After the fly has been sujected to repeated
casts and if one is havivg a good day, repeated strikes, this is when floatants truly need to demonstrate their measure.Pre soaking a fly in some of the
Newest chemicals is supposed to work ? One's I have tried seem to work - for about ten minutes, or until first strike. My normal routine is to fish my
local water , five days a week. Fishing mostly dry flies during the most productive time of the day. April , May usually fish 1:30pm until Hatch diminishes.
June, July , August 5:30 till dusk.. I am very familiar with insect activity in my area. I usually tie one or two flies to a 6X tippet , apply floatant and
start fishing.. When fly starts to exhibit sinking tendency I reapply floatant. When insect activity reaches zenith , fish activity usually follows. Sometimes
this activity is condensed into a half hour period. A fisherman has to be prepared , he cannot fumble around trying this or trying that. Time is wasted if one
stops to continually treat fly or even more time consuming to treat fly with some of the fly drying agents available.. I am amazed when I watch some of my
fishing friends fumbling with their fly or tippet when the Sweetest part of fish activitry is occuring. .I am off on a Tangent. To try and offer my humble
opinion , after trying most floatants availableI, I feel that " Wilson Creeks fly floatant " with green cap is my all time favorite. I smoke
cigars while I fish , so I add a fennel seed or two to my floatant. I actually believe it helps mask odor that remains on my hands...Getting harder to find
Wilson Creek floatant.. I stock up when found..
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
DrLogik |
#4 | |||
|
Posts: 1580 01/27/2009 14:21 |
In the warm-weather months I use Ray Bergman's formula...I'm a believer! (parafin and white gas/naptha). When it's cold I use a spray...usually
Cortand's...but I sure wish Orvis still made that liquid floatant Superflote...it was great in the cold...dried fast. I'm not a paste-type fly
floatant fan.
You might check this out. I did some casual unscientific research on floatants. It was fun actually: http://www.drlogik.com/flyfloatants.html
Last Edited By: DrLogik 01/27/2009 16:22.
Edited 1 time.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
ttrotter |
#5 | |||
|
Posts: 824 01/27/2009 18:28 Moderator |
Great research DrL! What is the formula?- is it 2 oz Naptha: 1 oz shaved parafin? I'm gonna try some this season.
Thanks, Tom |
|||
|
|
||||
|
DrLogik |
#6 | |||
|
Posts: 1581 01/27/2009 19:11 |
Tom,
A friend said shave about half a bar of paraffin into a quart Mason jar of Coleman fuel (naptha and white gas are almost the same thing). I get the 4-bar pack of wax at the grocery store. Let it sit until dissolved. Dunk the fly, blow off the excess and false cast a couple of times. I love this stuff. Funny how such an old formula works so well........ There are drawbacks though! The obvious flammability is one. Not capping tightly and the rash that may ensue on your skin is another...not to mention if you spill it in the stream. We risk the later with other floatants to though.
Last Edited By: DrLogik 01/27/2009 22:01.
Edited 1 time.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
CANEnABLE |
#7 | |||
|
Posts: 27 01/27/2009 19:31 |
Try spraying your dry flies with Scotchgard (yup, same stuff you may have used use on your sofa) before going to the stream. Stand them up on a piece of
cardboard, give them a good spray (available in aerosol cans) and let 'em dry. It's a no-muss, no-fuss application.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
kimk |
#8 | |||
|
Posts: 612 01/27/2009 20:13 |
I have used Gink for years and found it to work quite well. Inspired by a thread on this board, I tried the Bergman, white gas/paraffin formula. It is by far
the best. I believe the dissolved wax is absorbed into the fibers of a fly, and when the gas ( naphtha) evaporates it leaves the wax behind -- in the fibers ,
not on them. Flies treated this way are hard to dunk, and recover well when they are dunked.
AgMD |
|||
|
|
||||
|
slw |
Gink | #9 | ||
|
Posts: 148 01/27/2009 20:16 |
I liked it right from the day it came on the market. Here's Gink in the original container when Leiser had a corner on it:
It's great for dressing clean, dry flies but not much good for use on flies that have gotten mushed up and wet from use. I think a lot of folks who try it and don't like it, have over applied it and end up with flies matted with floatant. Some folks say Alboline is the same stuff; I dunno... maybe. |
|||
|
|
||||
|
nayashewon |
#10 | |||
|
Posts: 21 01/27/2009 21:35 |
I've used Silicone Mucilin in the green can for over 40 years, and I have never found anything that is longer lasting or that works better. However, I
rarely fish any dry smaller than a size 14, so maybe one of the other more fluid floatants would work better on small flies.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
blacknosedace |
Gink | #11 | ||
|
Posts: 59 01/27/2009 21:54 |
Here's another vote for the Bergman formula. I've never measured it out. I just shave paraffin into a jar of naptha until no more will dissolve. You do
have to cap it tightly, though, or the naptha will evaporate.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
mikgaes |
#12 | |||
|
Posts: 25 01/28/2009 11:41 |
Great discussion guys. You are always putting into a sealed glass jar? You wouldn't put into, say, an old, empty GINK bottle?
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
ttrotter |
#13 | |||
|
Posts: 825 01/28/2009 12:09 Moderator |
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.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
mikgaes |
#14 | |||
|
Posts: 27 01/28/2009 12:12 |
That's what I was afraid of. Thanks.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
Eric Peper |
#15 | |||
|
Posts: 114 01/28/2009 17:36 |
I used Gink for years, then Albolene for a while, but I couldn't tolerate the fact that both liquified in hot weather and leaked all over everything. A
few years ago I switched to Loon Aquel, which seems to be a bit more stable, and I still use that occasionally, but the container is a PITA. Last season,
however, I think I found my ultimate floatant solution: a combination of the Wonder Dry Fly Patch and Dry Magic. The Dry Magic (http://www.umpqua.com/pc-...87-tiemco-dry-magic.aspx) can be used with CDC flies, and the Wonder
Dry Fly Patch (here's one source http://stonecreekltd.com/wonder_cloth.htm) is IMO about 3x better
than amadou for drying soaked flies.
Try it, you'll like it. EP |
|||
|
|
||||
|
DrLogik |
#16 | |||
|
Posts: 1583 01/28/2009 18:04 |
Hey guys. I've been using a one ounce Nalgene bottle to hold my Bergman's for 4 years now without any problems at all. I would NOT put it in an empty
snap-cap floatant bottle. The reason I use a plastic Nalgene bottle is when I drop the bottle, which has happened, it doesn't break. I also don't like
carrying glass in my vest...but that's just me.
Don't get too carried away with the amount of paraffin you add to the quart. Half a bar is about all you need.
Last Edited By: DrLogik 01/28/2009 18:06.
Edited 1 time.
|
|||
|
|
||||
 Flyman615 |
Be careful out there... | #17 | ||
|
Posts: 3051 01/28/2009 19:05 |
This discussion reminds me of an incident that happened a number of years ago to my fly fishing partner.
At the time, he was a smoker. We were fishing a local spring creek and he stopped to light up and tie on a new fly. As he did both and was dressing the fly with fly dope (I honestly can't remember which brand)...POOF!--a very brief fire not only toasted his new fly, but it burned a nearly new, but sadly adjacent, fly line in half! I laughed like hell. He didn't. Regards, Flyman 
Last Edited By: Flyman615 01/28/2009 19:09.
Edited 1 time.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
DrLogik |
#18 | |||
|
Posts: 1584 01/28/2009 19:53 |
Did he enjoy his smoke?
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
upstatetrout |
#19 | |||
|
Posts: 247 01/28/2009 21:32 |
Hands down.Ive tried them all.Dry magic!Most traditional dry flies realy need very little floatant.But this stuff even floats CDC like a cork.
Oh yeah an amadou patch also makes life a lot easier Tom.
Last Edited By: upstatetrout 01/28/2009 21:35.
Edited 1 time.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
Eric Peper |
#20 | |||
|
Posts: 115 01/29/2009 10:06 |
upstatetrout wrote:Hi Tom -- Try the Wonder Dry Fly Patch, and you'll toss the amadou forever . . . trust me on this. :-) EP |
|||
|
|
||||
