CDC Ant

[cohafly]

A lovely little pattern, that is tied with only one CDC puff and a few turns of hackle. CDC ant

[jdmidwest]

Nice simple pattern.

One problem, I have never killed a duck with black cdc puffs.  I wonder how they dye cdc and it still retains its bouyancy?

[fishinwrench]

I came to the conclusion, long ago, that there is nothing "bouyant" about CDC feathers.   

They are fluffy, and have lots of little barbules, so they tend to resist breaking through the surface film.  But once they've been pulled under they are worthless, regardless of how much time you spend mashing them between 2 mushrooms.   

Therefore.....I have a bunch of bags of CDC puffs and feathers that I've bought, and we can put up for auction, or trade for decent hackle, right here and now. 

If anyone is interested I will dig them out and post a pic.   

[jdmidwest]

Do you have a way to dye them black???

[tjm]

Dying CDC

Rit should work and Kool-aid might, if you can work out the colors you want. I wonder why a marker wouldn't work?

The feathers aren't buoyant, but the tiny dry fibers trap air and air floats. Wet fibers don't trap so ... My first reaction to the CDC craze was that Gartside was doing the same thing with his CPF a long time ago,  so I never got around to buying any CDC and as long as I have gotten by without it, I see no reason to now. Hare foot likely floats a lot better, and I think can be subbed  for CDC in floating recipes. However natural ants don't float very long and there is a good possibility that fish may prefer the ants wet. I've never had an ant pattern that consistently performed well for me and haven't tried one in years, maybe I should revisit them.

@cohafly that's nice work. I like simple stuff.

[Flysmallie]

17 hours ago, cohafly said:

A lovely little pattern, that is tied with only one CDC puff and a few turns of hackle. CDC ant

A copenhagen can of those and my 3wt and all the bluegill will fear me. 

[jdmidwest]

I have used CDC for years.  I had a natural supply duck hunting, just pluck all the feathers away from the oil glands.  Ziploc bags stuffed away of it.  The fibers trap air, but the pure thing has the oils on them.  But, usually only good for one fish then put them up to dry.  The slime wets it down.

I have a killer caddis fly that is simply a hackle tail, hare ear body, and cdc wing.  Several others, RS2 spinners for the spent mayflies.  Some midges.

I always used natural cdc.  I always assumed that you would have to rinse in soap to get rid of the oil for it to take a dye.  Then, all you have is the fibers.

[fishinwrench]

While we're on the topic of keeping dry flys up where they are supposed to be......that Frogs Fanny dust is the best stuff I've ever used.   You can float a weighted nymph with that stuff.   Pretty cool 👍

[slothman]

On 3/5/2021 at 8:49 PM, fishinwrench said:

While we're on the topic of keeping dry flys up where they are supposed to be......that Frogs Fanny dust is the best stuff I've ever used.   You can float a weighted nymph with that stuff.   Pretty cool 👍

You like it better than shimazaki dry shake? I like that stuff and it works well, but your fly comes out white. It is the best stuff I’ve used though. I’ve never tried frogs fanny though. 

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, slothman said:

You like it better than shimazaki dry shake? I like that stuff and it works well, but your fly comes out white. It is the best stuff I’ve used though. I’ve never tried frogs fanny though. 

It's probably the same stuff.   "Fumed Silica" 

You can actually buy it through Amazon for like 15.00/pound.....which would be enough to last you 3 lifetimes. No idea what its true intended purpose is, but it isn't for keeping fishing flys afloat. 😅

  But of course I dig the cute little bottles and brush that have that too cool frog guy  chillin' on it. 😁