Silica Packets

[Dangus]

Is that shake and bake fly drier stuff just silica? Have a bunch of packs of it sitting here from some stuff I ordered.

Should it work?

[slingshotz]

It does but it works much better if you can grind it up to a fine powder. I get dozens of them at work but there are some that use something different than the standard little white plasticky beads which I have never tried before.

[BurningChrome]

More or less the same thing. Some of them like Loon Top Ride also have a powder floatant mixed in. I gave up on the shake stuff last summer and bought an amadou patch instead. Works way better and doesn't risk damaging your tippet like the shake containers.

[Dangus]

http://www.apsnyc.com/pdf/silica_gel_reconditioning.pdf

 

Going to try "refreshing" 'my loon stuff. Worst case, it's garbage anyways.

[Conor]

I ground a bunch up years ago to try it. I don't think I ever have tried it though. I also have made up a few years supply of paste floatant. That works well.

 

I'm a senseless DIYer. Not sure why I need to make everything so difficult.

[Flyfisher]

See if you can get your hands on some fumed silica as it is by far the best dry floatant available. I've been using it for years and nothing else compares to it. It is used in fiber glassing processes for flotation as the stuff is highly hydrophobic.

[Tungsten]

Some will also call it Cabosil, mixed with epoxy as a thickening agent makes it Thixotropic.Available at IPP or lee valley.

[dryfly]

The white silica pellets work great for big dryflies. POUND the pellets w a hammer on a hard surface outside...the fine dust should not be inhaled. A coffee grinder makes it too fine.

 

Clive

[bigalcal]

I love Frog's Fanny and I was only able to get it at Westwind's (sorry I forget the new shop's name) and BPS. I might have bought the last bottle at "Westwind's" as they were not sure if they were going to buy more. I think I'll give this a try. If it's similar I'll be saving a ton of money as "Frog's Fanny" wasn't getting any cheaper.

I hope it works as well!!

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/pages/cs/fillers/cabosil.php

[BurningChrome]

I love Frog's Fanny and I was only able to get it at Westwind's (sorry I forget the new shop's name) and BPS. I might have bought the last bottle at "Westwind's" as they were not sure if they were going to buy more. I think I'll give this a try. If it's similar I'll be saving a ton of money as "Frog's Fanny" wasn't getting any cheaper.

I hope it works as well!!

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/pages/cs/fillers/cabosil.php

https://loonoutdoors.com/product/loon-dust/

 

I used Frog's Fanny before and Loon Dust is pretty much identical.

[bigalcal]

I'll grab a bag of this for nexy cutty season. We will do a "field test"!!

[SilverDoctor]

Then there's us old buggers that just change flies and let the soggy one dry on a patch.

[Dangus]

Saw a 8lb tub of silica at Safeway. Even has the blue indicator pieces. Supposed to be for a cat box, but that might be a lifetime supply for flyfishing

[professori]

Does that mean i can just dump my shake'n'bake in the litter box when the blue pieces turn pink??

[Dangus]

Yeah, I'd also recommend not working in the opposite direction

[SilverDoctor]

News Flash: Fly fishermen robbing Kitty Litter Boxes.