Frog's Fanny fly floatant powder review

What is Frog's Fanny?

Frog's Fanny is a floatant powder designed to be added to dry flies to help keep them afloat. The material is extremely hydrophobic so repels water so any flies you treat with the powder will float like a cork.

How do you use it?

The powder inside is very light so you need to open the screw top on the Frog's Fanny bottle very carefully. There's an applicator brush inside which will have quite a bit of powder attached to it when you remove the brush. Gently knock off the excess powder inside the bottle and then use the brush to work the powder into your dry fly.

When you apply it to a wet fly it can dry it out and make it float again and it will develop a water repellant coating that keeps it floating right on top of the surface. You can also apply it to weighted CDC nymph patterns to trap air bubbles that can give them a more natural appearance underwater.

What's Frog's Fanny like to use?

It works on dry flies of all types, and is one of the best floatants around for CDC fly patterns. It's so effective that you can even pull the dry fly under the surface and let it pop back up, which often induces fish to take.

While hydrophobic fumed silica fly floatants are based on the same ingredients, the benefit of Frog's Fanny is that it comes in a bottle with an applicator brush. This really makes a difference to how well it works, I think. It's effective stuff and is the best dry fly floatant I've used.

What is Frog's Fanny made from?

Frog's Fanny is made from hydrophobic fumed silica. This is an incredibly fine, incredibly light white dust-like powder that naturally repels water. The raw material is actually available very cheaply on the internet, but is generally only available in large quantities - which weigh surprisingly little.

How much does it cost?

Frog's Fanny costs around £7 a pot. It's a few pounds more than the equivalent dry fly floatant powder, but it's worth paying the extra to get the pot with a brush in the lid, as it's this which makes Frog's Fanny more effective than other floatant powders.