Floatant Does It Matter???

I have three floatants I carry with me. A loon gel, Frog Fanny Dust, and a silicone paste. I use the gel most often, the dust for flies tied with CDC and the paste primarily for New Zealand Indicators. The paste is kind of thick and last for quite a while but is grease like so you need to clean your fingers everytime you adjust the indicator so I haven’t been using it as much as I used too.

Bill

I also use a silicone powder for most dry flies and a paste or a gel (Gink). The Gink is good on hair wings such elk hair caddis. I use lip balm to grease my tippet to leader knots and when I want my tippet to float. Powder on a soft hackle is good to float it as a dead sedge or spent spinner.

I agree that floatant does matter depending on what you are putting floatant on. Deer hair is ok for paste or gel and CDC is best with a dry powder product.

Here’s a trick for all that use the New Zealand strike indicator which I think is one of the best and most sensitive indicator systems out there. Most think that the New Zealand strike indicator can’t hold up heavy flies/slip shot. Not true. Here’s a trick to help keep that wool floating higher and longer:

Get a popsicle stick or tongue depressor. attach on one side a small piece of velcro (the sticky side with the tiny hooks). When your New Zealand wool indicator is put on your line, add some gel or paste floatant to the velcro on the stick and brush the floatant into the wool. Just like you would comb your hair (no jokes, please). By brushing the floatant into the wool in this manner it will cover every “individual” wool fiber vice just the outside fibers if you goop it on the indicator with your fingers. Then take a small scissors (I keep one in my vest) and trim the indicator to the size that is commensurate with the amount of weight you have with your flies and split shot. I find this system works perfect with either light weight flies or heavier ones.