Loon Lochsa floatant

iveofione

iveofione

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I'm not sure we have talked about this stuff before and I have very little experience with it. I bought it because it is safe to use with CDC as well as conventionally hackled flies. Nothing scientific here, just an observation.

Back in December I tied 3 size 16 emergers using a tiny yellow foam post and some fine grizzly hackle. I carefully applied the Loon product to just the hackle then put some water in a glass and tossed them in. Weeks later the water evaporated so I stuck the glass under the faucet thinking the flies would probably sink. They didn't despite being swirled by the water. This week the water had evaporated again and once again I filled it with a vigorous stream of water. The flies floated to the top. Of course this doesn't represent real world use but I have done this test before with other floatants without good results.

Lochsa is kinda spendy at about $10 for a 1/2 oz bottle but anything that will keep your fly afloat during a hectic dry fly hatch is probably worth it.
 
mark wlker said:
Look up Bergman's floatant formula. All I ever use and used it for years.
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I used a Bergman's mix for years with white gas as the medium. I agree that it is super effective. I could not find mixing-storage or streamside bottles that seal tightly enough to prevent evaporation of the white gas-naphtha. What bottles do you use?
 
iveofione said:
I'm not sure we have talked about this stuff before and I have very little experience with it. I bought it because it is safe to use with CDC as well as conventionally hackled flies. Nothing scientific here, just an observation.

Back in December I tied 3 size 16 emergers using a tiny yellow foam post and some fine grizzly hackle. I carefully applied the Loon product to just the hackle then put some water in a glass and tossed them in. Weeks later the water evaporated so I stuck the glass under the faucet thinking the flies would probably sink. They didn't despite being swirled by the water. This week the water had evaporated again and once again I filled it with a vigorous stream of water. The flies floated to the top. Of course this doesn't represent real world use but I have done this test before with other floatants without good results.

Lochsa is kinda spendy at about $10 for a 1/2 oz bottle but anything that will keep your fly afloat during a hectic dry fly hatch is probably worth it.
Click to expand...
I’ve been using Loon Aquel on non CDC flies and fumigated silica powder desiccant (refilling frogs fanny bottles with the little brush) on all dries. The silica floats flies very high and draws lots of strikes but requires constant reapplication. I’ll give the Lochsa a try this summer.
 
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Brian Miller said:
I used a Bergman's mix for years with white gas as the medium. I agree that it is super effective. I could not find mixing-storage or streamside bottles that seal tightly enough to prevent evaporation of the white gas-naphtha. What bottles do you use?
Click to expand...
Some say they use 1 or 4 oz Nalgene bottles. Claim they do not melt.
 
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I've been using a glass jar with a plastic lid for mixing and it only holds the mix for perhaps two weeks before the naphtha is gone. My small plastic streamside bottle that would fit into a floatant holder only hold the naphtha for a couple of days.

Do the Nalgene caps fit tightly enough to prevent evaporation of the white gas?
 
Brian Miller said:
I used a Bergman's mix for years with white gas as the medium. I agree that it is super effective. I could not find mixing-storage or streamside bottles that seal tightly enough to prevent evaporation of the white gas-naphtha. What bottles do you use?
Click to expand...
Small Nalgene bottles.
About 9 years ago, I bought a block of "Gulf Paraffin" at the grocery and a 500ml bottle of "Petroleum Ether" (Laboratory Grade) off the site of the "great unwashed masses". 2 of us have used it for every year since. The ether is less than half used and paraffin has about 90% left.
Ether has become $$ over the years I understand white gas or Coleman fuel will work.

 
mark wlker said:
Look up Bergman's floatant formula. All I ever use and used it for years.
Click to expand...
MoreQuestionsThanAnswers said:
Thanks for that tip. I’ll try it, and will try to remember not light my cigar when doing so.
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MoreQuestionsThanAnswers said:
How is it on cdc?
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A lit cigar sounds sketchy during the following steps.
I tie on a fly and dip it in a bottle with a mix of roughly 50%:50% white gas-naphtha : *(shaved &)* melted paraffin by volume, and put the cap on the bottle.
I shake the bottle, remove the fly, and put the cap tightly back on the bottle.
The highly volatile naphtha evaporates pretty quickly from the fly leaving the fly caked with bits of dry paraffin.

I keep a rubber band girth hitched to a D-ring on my vest or pack strap. I hook the fly in the rubber band loop and holding onto the tippet stretch the rubber band a bit. Then I flick the rubber band a couple of times which shakes the excess paraffin off; it's pretty effective. Works to dry soggy flies too.

The fly would float like a cork for a long time; iirc, even after hooking-landing a fish or two.

I haven't tried the Bergman's for CDC.
 
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I saw a report this week that stated 50% of America's streams and rivers are now unsuitable for swimming and eating fish from.

I only thought of that report because some of the things listed here, white gas, Coleman fuel, "Petroleum Ether" seem as far from natural substances or environmentally friendly as you can get.
 
Bass-O-Matic said:
I saw a report this week that stated 50% of America's streams and rivers are now unsuitable for swimming and eating fish from.

I only thought of that report because some of the things listed here, white gas, Coleman fuel, "Petroleum Ether" seem as far from natural substances or environmentally friendly as you can get.
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I stopped using it because the naphtha evaporated in the bottles so quickly it became a pain to keep refilling them so I switched to Dilly Wax as recommended by Doug Swisher and feel better about the environmental aspect. But I've primarily fished wet flies over the last 5 years so my floatant is usually buried in my pack.
 
Bass-O-Matic said:
I saw a report this week that stated 50% of America's streams and rivers are now unsuitable for swimming and eating fish from.

I only thought of that report because some of the things listed here, white gas, Coleman fuel, "Petroleum Ether" seem as far from natural substances or environmentally friendly as you can get.
Click to expand...
The ether evaporates very quickly (before the fly hits the water) and just leaves the paraffin.
Can't speak of the others.
 
Bass-O-Matic said:
I saw a report this week that stated 50% of America's streams and rivers are now unsuitable for swimming and eating fish from.

I only thought of that report because some of the things listed here, white gas, Coleman fuel, "Petroleum Ether" seem as far from natural substances or environmentally friendly as you can get.
Click to expand...
Interesting concern. I was considering using it on dry flies as I completed them. I assume everything would flash off long before it saw water.
 
I bought a bottle of the Loon Lochsa a few years ago. It does float flies like a cork. But it doesn't last forever. Ive's fly floating in a glass is fine but while sitting in a glass it doesn't pickup surface dirt like out of a stream. It has to be refreshed every so often.
 
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