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CDC-winged fly question

Started by benben, April 26, 2011, 09:47:09 AM

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benben reincarnated

I tied some cdc-winged dry flies and tried them out yesterday (similarly winged to the picture below).  They worked absolutely perfect, landed softly, drifted well, and most importantly the fish were hitting them.  Problem was that once I caught a fish on one, I couldn't dry it enough to get the CDC back the way it was so that it would float properly again. 

Is there a product I can pre-treat the fly with and/or something that I could use to dry it with after landing a fish?  I read something about amadou for drying it...if recommended, where do you get it?

Thanks in advance for any help!


[attach=1]

Woolly Bugger

fumed silica...

a.k.a frog's fanny, loon dust, etc...  buy one bottle of this.. and then

refill with this http://www.epoxyproducts.com/2_fillers.html

ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Rhody

also,get some type of amadou or fake amadou(samadou) for drying the fly after it gets slimed by all of the fish that are gonna take it,

i found i need to dry with a patch as well as adding pixie dust
My picture weighs more than your picture.
J.M.

Silver Creek




There are several things you can do for CDC Dry Flies. Here is the sequence.

1. Pretreat the fly with a water repellant. I use the old green can Scotchguard. I spray it into a bottle, then dip the finished fly in the liquid and place on a paper towel to dry.

2. Use a special fly floatant that will not clump the feathers. The only gel that I know of is Tiemco Dry Magic and it will not clump the feathers when used sparingly.

3(a). Then treat the fly with a powder floatant on top of the Dry Magic. This is Frog's Fanny. The brush allows you to get the powder into the CDC.

3(b). The alternative is to use a combination fly drying crystal, fly powder combination product like Shimazaki Dry Shake or Loon Outdoor Top Ride.


4(a). After the fly has been slimed, take a paper towel or a piece of artificial chamois and squeeze the fly to absorb as much of the water as you can. Then either get a separate bottle of desiccant like Cortland Dry-ur-fly to absorb the rest of the water, then retreat with Frog's Fanny. BTW, they misspelled desiccant on the bottle.

4(b). Or you can use the combination products I described in 3(b) to dry and retreat the fly.

I have an additional comment. Your fly I think is really an emerger. I think it will be more effective with the body in and not on the film. So I would not treat the body but apply the floatant only to the CDC. This means using the separate drying crystals and the Frog's Fanny that can apply the the powder only to the wing. If you want to treat the the whole fly then you can use the Top Ride or Dry Shake.

You can refill the bottles as noted above. Put the fumed silica in a squeeze ketchup bottle and then you can refill the floatant bottle easily.

For the drying crystals, you can renew then by pouring then into a dish and then microwaving them on high for 30 seconds. This will drive the water out of the Silica Gel.
Regards,

Silver

http://tinyurl.com/kkctayx


"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought"..........Szent-Gyorgy

Leedawg

#4
Silver Creek nailed that one. I put mine in some "shake and float" to dry it before I put the "magic dust" back on it. High Maintenance Flies! Welcome to CDC HELL!  ;D It's a love hate relationship.  Those guys you see catching fish, that love on their fly for 3 minutes after to get it to float again......That's us!
Good Luck man. If you find a better way, please let us know!

benben reincarnated

Thanks guys! 

Kinda wishing now I didn't discover these now, haha.

To Silver Creek's response, I definitely want it to float low, so will do as you suggested to only treat the wing and now the body.  I want to replicate the good floats I saw when I first cast it before a fish hit it, which is what I should achieve by only treating the CDC.  I had 6 in my box with me and with each one I hit a fish on the first cast, so I had to change the flies until I used all 6, then I said f*ck it and quit and moved to some other patterns since I couldn't get them dry. 


Silver Creek

You can reuse the flies after they dry on your drying patch.

The other thing I would do is to save the desiccant you get packed with electronics and shoes.

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Put it in a 35 mm film canister and then after the fly cannot be renewed, put the fly in the canister and shake. Leave it in there awhile and then let air dry.
Regards,

Silver

http://tinyurl.com/kkctayx


"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought"..........Szent-Gyorgy

flatlander

Here's another little trick that you can add to the list to dry out soggy cdc:

Hook your fly in the rod keeper or on one of the shooting guides.  Grasp the tippet and pull it taut with one hand.  Pluck the taut tippet with your index finger like a guitar string -- the water will "vibrate" out of the cdc.  Apply frog fanny afterwards.

This doesn't work as well with a badly slimed fly.

Woolly Bugger

oh I should have added..

for a slimy fly rinse, dry and then apply..

you can dry a fly by

a. blowing
b. squeezing between t-shirt or fly drying patch
c. falst casting
d. all of the above

ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Leedawg

The "shake and float" I was referring to is what Silver Creek put in the picture. I leave a few rolling around in my desiccant container that have saved my butt after the point where you said f@#k it. I been there and done that too.

diaz dassie

Ben, I personally stay away from CDC anything. Those duck arse feathers are a righteous pain, besides, when you fish bluelines for not so picky trouts, your go to should be the beastmaster Stimulator, Elk Hair caddis, Humpy or Wulff dry fly.
However, if you're adamant that you are gonna catch brookies on all 100 types of dries you have in your flybox, then this guy has the secret to keeping em (CDC's included!)buoyant! :laugh:


Peddler

Has anyone tried this stuff from the guru of CDC? http://www.trouthunt.com/estore/details/2215/0/247

I don't over-engineer keeping CDC flies afloat. I few snappy false casts to get most of the wet out, a blot with amadou then a good shaking in the dry-shake bottle then go fishing. It isn't rocket science unless you want it to be. The goal is to get the slime and water off and to open up the barbules of the CDC to get it to float again.  The 'shake and bake' floatant does that nicely.
The early bird may get the worm,
but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Woolly Bugger

I think that Harry's been huffing that stuff too long...
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Silver Creek

Quote from: Peddler on April 26, 2011, 16:00:09 PM
Has anyone tried this stuff from the guru of CDC? http://www.trouthunt.com/estore/details/2215/0/247



Don't bother. It mats down the CDC. Use the Tiemco Dry Magic
Regards,

Silver

http://tinyurl.com/kkctayx


"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought"..........Szent-Gyorgy

Peddler

Quote from: Silver Creek on April 27, 2011, 08:58:42 AM
Quote from: Peddler on April 26, 2011, 16:00:09 PM
Has anyone tried this stuff from the guru of CDC? http://www.trouthunt.com/estore/details/2215/0/247



Don't bother. It mats down the CDC. Use the Tiemco Dry Magic

In looking at it again, I wonder if it is made for standard flies as a typical floatant.
The early bird may get the worm,
but the second mouse gets the cheese.