Fly floatant

Fly floatant is a treatment, usually a gel, liquid or powder, applied to a dry fly's hackle and body to help it repel water and keep sitting up on the surface instead of soaking through and sinking. Some formulas are applied before fishing, while powder or crystal floatants are used to dry out and re-treat a fly that has already gotten waterlogged during a session.

Different formulas suit different situations. Gel and liquid floatants work well applied before the first cast and hold up through several fish, while powder desiccants are better for reviving a fly mid-session without needing to change it, since they dry the fly out rather than adding more coating on top of what is already there.

A common mistake is over-applying gel floatant, which can mat down delicate hackle fibers and actually make a fly float worse and look less natural on the water. Rinsing a fly in the water and false casting a few times to shake off excess moisture before re-treating it usually works better than piling on more floatant.