Del,
Try this experiment. Take a fine wire #12 dry fly hook, make sure it's
clean and dry, and carefully set it down flat on the surface of some water,
either a glass or in the sink. It will float.
Look at the reflection of the water around the hook. You will see a 'dent'
in the surface of the water. The edge of this dent, caused by surface
tension, is the same as the sides of a boat.
It allows for more water displacement, thus more bouyancy. The surface
tension is vehicle to bouyancy.
Now let's do the same thing, only soap your fingers slightly and just rub a
little all over the hook. Now try to float the hook. The soap breaks the
surface tension and you can't make the 'dent' any more for bouyancy, and the
hook drops through the surface and sinks.
So whether a fly or a ship- water displacement is bouyancy.
Apply this to the finished fly now.
Over...
DonO
----- Original Message -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 9:45 AM
Subject: Re: [VFB] Dry Flies 102
In fact what makes a dry fly a dry is that the weight of the fly is
countered by the buoyancy of the materials, the weight is spread over a
large area, and the fact that the surface area is greater than what is
needed to pierce the "skin" of the water.
If you take a dry hook, and the same material used to tie any dry fly
and bind them tightly to the hook in a "clump" it would sink. Due to the
fact that by design the mass of the fly is spread over a greater area, it
causes the fly to ride on the "skin" of the water.
The same goes for a ship. Take a sheet of steel and roll it into a
rod and it will sink. Take the same sheet and flatten it out, shape it into
a "boat" and it will float.
Delbert (Del) Roberts
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Belton, SC
My little spot on the River of Life
SC Department of Natural Resources Home Page
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