Fly Floatants:
Generally speaking, most dry flies will tend to float high on the surface of the water for
only a given amount of time, depending upon the materials the fly is made from. At some
point it may begin to sink partially and sometimes, completely. Various types of
“floatants”, some dry and some in liquid composition help prevent this.
Fly Line Dressings and Cleaners:
The dirtier you floating fly line gets, the more likely it will not float high on the surface of
the water. Both dirty sinking lines and floating lines are less likely to shoot through the
guides of your rod as good as they would if they were clean. Fly line cleaners and
dressings not only clean your floating line and helps prevent them from sinking after
repetitive use, they can make any type of line easier to cast.
Descent Leader Sink:
There are dressings designed to do just the opposite thing with your leader-that is help
them sink. This may be helpful in fishing wet flies and even may come in handy in
concealing the presence of your leader. Slightly sinking the leader when you are fishing
dry flies in calm water may help reduce the flash as well as the shadow the leader may
cast on the bottom. This helps to conceal the presence of the leader.’
Lead Weights (Split Shot):
There are removable type lead split shots as well as the type that’s difficult to remove.
Both types can damage a tippet if they are applied to tightly. This is more of a problem
with fine tippets than heavy tippets but clinching lead split-shot on any nylon mono tippet
or leader material will damage to some extent. It will do the same thing with flourocarbon
tippet.
Most anglers prefer a variety of sizes of split-shot in one container rather than several
boxes of different sizes of split-shot but the choice is yours. Some anglers tend to just
keep adding more of the same size split shot but in most fly fishing situations, having a
variety of sizes is a plus.
Non-toxic weights:
There are some areas and streams that require the use of non-toxic weights. In other
words, lead weights are not permitted. There are several types of non-toxic weights on
the market. Some are applied similar to the way you apply lead split-shot and others are
putty like substances that you wad up on the tippet.
Copyright James Marsh 2013