With the water temperature rising in May and early summer the trout become more active in their feeding habits. This results in the fish moving up in the water column into the warmer water so they can feed hard and metabolise the food more effectively. As a result of this shift up in the water column the fish start to feed on the buzzers more in the surface layers as they hatch. Its now that the CDC shuttlecock style dries come into their own as the trout cruise lazily taking the hatching buzzers. CDC stands for Cul De Canard French for Ducks Bottom are the waterproof feathers from around the preening glad of the duck. Due to their proximity to the glad they are very buoyant due to being full of preening oil. This results in them naturally floating; this can be slightly improved by adding a small amount of floatant to aid the natural oils. However, to much can have a negative effect and cause the fibres to become clogged stopping the natural oils from working.
When they are hard on emerging buzzers the sport can be fantastic, and great catches can be had. However, once lots of fish get caught on a CDC, the feathers can become waterlogged and covered in fish slime.
This normally results in the flies not floating and thus becoming in effective. You can just change flies but if the fishing is really going well them; you will need lots of the me pattern! Luckily there are products on the market that can bring these water logged flies back to life. These are in the form of two powers the Vision Brush & Float & Loon Top Ride
Both floatant’s are a powdered form of silicone, this silicone desiccant powder helps to remove water from fibres and due to its waterproof nature aid floating. The brush and float are perfect for brushing into water clogged slimy CDC fibres to remove all the slime and water. The brush allows you to really work the power into the middle of the middle of the CDC feather. This is the main area that will hold water and cause them to sink due to the dense nature of the centre of the feather.
Top Ride is also a powder based floatant with the added benefit of moisture wicking beads that help to dry the fly by taking all the water and moisture out of the fibres. This type of floatant is fantastic for really slimmed up drowned flies as it gets a lot of the power floatant on the fly while the beads help to draw out the moisture. Very easy to use just pop the fly in the powder still attached close the lid and give it a shake.
This can then be used in conjunction with the brush on floatant, as it’s a great way of getting lots of floatant power on the fly that can then be worked in with the brush.
Hope this blog has been useful and you can get some tips to helping keeping your CDC floating for longer. We currently have a special offer on both floatant’s if purchased together which can be seen over on the online shop www.flyfishstore.co.uk
