New fly tier question

[Nedak]

This one might be kinda dumb but I thought I would get input from the more experienced.

I started tying flies and you probably know how the story goes, now I look at my coffee mug where I store them and I have 50+ flies.

All different kinds, some for bass, some for trout, some for carp, ALL for anything that will bite the darn things.

How do I organize the end result?  Lacking good organization skills, I have a few fly boxes but do I now need to drop $10/box to hold these things.  So suggestions on homemade boxes appreciated.

What do I do when I go out?  I don't feel like bringing 5 boxes with me.  I know pick and choose what I am targeting and bring those but what do people do for storage.

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

[Scott Stankus]

I'm sort of in the same boat. My plan, though I haven't fully enacted it yet, is to have several large boxes at home so I   can stockpile (I got these from Home Depot to start: $9.88: Plano 14 in. Stowaway (3-Pack)) the flies that I tie. Then, prior to an outing make sure the one or two small boxes that I keep in my Slingpack are fully loaded. If not, I'll just grab some from the Plano containers. 

I'm happy with the plan, but I'll admit I'm having the same problem that you bring up - how do I sort the Plano boxes? Do I keep all like flies together or do I put some in each box? That is, if I have 1 box for trout files, 1 for bass flies and  1 for carp flies (as an example), would I have Woolly Buggers in both the trout and the bass boxes? All three? Or should all like flies be kept in the same place?

How do others keep their flies organized?

--Scott

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[Matthew Longley]

I went to the container store and got a few large plastic compartment boxes, and I use these to organize extra flies (both in terms of quantity I don't need at the moment and patterns I'm not using at the moment).  Then, when you figure out your fly box situation (more on that below), just use the flies in your big compartment boxes to fill in for lost flies or change up your selection.

For fly boxes that you carry with you, I'm sure the 1,000 members on this forum have 900 different preferred ways of doing it, so use whatever folks tell you to help you figure out what works best for you.  Right now I have small compartment boxes for dry flies (container store), orvis pocket slotted nymph boxes for nymphs, and the orvis waterproof slotted big boxes for streams and bigger flies.  90% of the inventory in these boxes stay the same.  Sometimes I throw in a few extra poppers if I'm going topwater, sometimes I double up on nymph boxes, and for the moment I have a cicada row that I'm really hoping I get the chance to use.

[Danny Barrett]

I have some old bass plano boxes. And i just put each pattern in its own slot, I dont have a plano box per species. I use a lot of my same flies for bass and trout. But ive recently become a huge fan of only fishing 4 or 5 nymph patterns and big streamers. My limited dry flys just stay in a floating orvis fly box in my pack at all times because its a small box. Hope that helps. 

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[namfos]

Google "make your own fly boxes" and there's plenty of ideas for fly boxes on the cheap from using Altoids boxes to larger "bug barn" types. Also keep an eye on big box home improvement store sales fliers - often they sell a set of 4 Planos or Flambeaus for cheap and each box has movable dividers for max flexiblilty for home storage.  

Mark

On Tuesday, June 11, 2013 10:08:26 AM UTC-4, Nedak wrote:

[Michael Smith]

Start out with 2 boxes: one for trout-like flies and one for big bass behemoths and streamers.

http://www.roughfisher.com/2010/03/psa-2-diy-fly-boxes.html

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[TurbineBlade]

I've been storing mine in the same plastic storage boxes the other folks have mentioned -- I think mine came from Michael's craft store.  The flies get all over each other and are not organized at all, but I don't care too much.  

For fly boxes, I've used altoids tins with magnets, foam and plastic boxes, etc. but I prefer soft-sided, foam boxes with ridges that are about the size of a VHS tape....maybe 1' shorter on the long side.  The hard-sided fly boxes work fine, but I like the squishy ones better....one less thing to shatter when I drop or sit on it. 

My favorite at the moment is the flambeau, olive-green squishy foam box the closes with magnets.  

Gene

[Dallen Hall]

Ditto on the prior suggestions. Flat plastic boxes can also sometimes be found for cheap at Staples or Office Depot. Add some inexpensive craft foam and voila! A good bulk storage item could be a cigar box. Many cigar/pipe tobacco stores have been pushed out of existence but there are a couple still around. They usually have  a pile of them stacked up in various sizes for a buck or so. Good for storing materials. You can get some leftover whole tobacco leaves in some of the boxes. This is is supposed to help keep bugs from damaging you fly tying materials too! It has worked for me.

Please, PC comments about tobacco stores etc not needed. Heard it all. I'm not advocating smoking.

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[Cooper Breeden]

For homemade boxes, I made a small fly box out of an altoids tin (saw it on a link that floated around the forums about a month ago). All you need is the altoids tin, superglue, and the foam (I just cut out a square of the foam that I used to tie cicadas). 

Cooper

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[Eric Y.]

$10/box is generally a pretty good deal if they are at least somewhat decent boxes. Personally, I keep two boxes for trout that pretty much never change and then I have another two boxes for everything else. I have to juggle flies around by season and location, but I probably spend <2 hours/year doing this, so it's not a real inconvenience. For example, I just took what was left of the 120 shad flies I tied this year out from a bugger barn and put them in a tupperware container, replacing them with clousers and poppers. 

The real trick is figuring out a way to conveniently carry a good assortment of big flies. The Cliff Beast and the knockoff copy I made myself are too large to fit into anything but a full-on backpack. 

On Tuesday, June 11, 2013 12:41:30 PM UTC-4, Coop wrote:

For homemade boxes, I made a small fly box out of an altoids tin (saw it on a link that floated around the forums about a month ago). All you need is the altoids tin, superglue, and the foam (I just cut out a square of the foam that I used to tie cicadas). 

Cooper

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 9:42 AM, Danny Barrett <dannyt...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have some old bass plano boxes. And i just put each pattern in its own slot, I dont have a plano box per species. I use a lot of my same flies for bass and trout. But ive recently become a huge fan of only fishing 4 or 5 nymph patterns and big streamers. My limited dry flys just stay in a floating orvis fly box in my pack at all times because its a small box. Hope that helps. 

On Jun 11, 2013 10:21 AM, "Scott Stankus" <ssta...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm sort of in the same boat. My plan, though I haven't fully enacted it yet, is to have several large boxes at home so I   can stockpile (I got these from Home Depot to start: $9.88: Plano 14 in. Stowaway (3-Pack)) the flies that I tie. Then, prior to an outing make sure the one or two small boxes that I keep in my Slingpack are fully loaded. If not, I'll just grab some from the Plano containers. 

I'm happy with the plan, but I'll admit I'm having the same problem that you bring up - how do I sort the Plano boxes? Do I keep all like flies together or do I put some in each box? That is, if I have 1 box for trout files, 1 for bass flies and  1 for carp flies (as an example), would I have Woolly Buggers in both the trout and the bass boxes? All three? Or should all like flies be kept in the same place?

How do others keep their flies organized?

--Scott

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 10:08 AM, Nedak <johng...@gmail.com> wrote:

This one might be kinda dumb but I thought I would get input from the more experienced.

I started tying flies and you probably know how the story goes, now I look at my coffee mug where I store them and I have 50+ flies.

All different kinds, some for bass, some for trout, some for carp, ALL for anything that will bite the darn things.

How do I organize the end result?  Lacking good organization skills, I have a few fly boxes but do I now need to drop $10/box to hold these things.  So suggestions on homemade boxes appreciated.

What do I do when I go out?  I don't feel like bringing 5 boxes with me.  I know pick and choose what I am targeting and bring those but what do people do for storage.

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

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[Michael Smith]

Also very important: write your name and phone number on the box.  =)

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[Aden]

I have a few boxes of various size that I put in my camelback when fishing but when I am in the water I find that my shirt's chest pocket is the best storage as I typically only throw a couple of patterns at a time. Although I would recommend smashing down the barb of your hooks.

[Jeffrey Silvan]

I usually carry two medium size fly boxes with me while fishing around here (sometimes a third small one). They're separated into two main categories - "small" flies and "long" flies. Basically, my "small flies" box has smaller square compartments with mostly tons of poppers. I keep at least one compartment filled with my damsel nymphs and dragonfly dymphs, and another with a couple generic nymphs and other more "carpy" flies in case I run into carp. My "long flies" box is where I keep my various clousers, larger woolly buggers, worm patterns, and other streamers. I found those two boxes cover nearly all of my warmwater fishing, and easily fits into either my wader pouch or pockets in my fishing cargo shorts if I'm not using waders. As I'm expanding my local fly selection with some of Rob's patterns, my organization system is going to have to be a little revamped though...

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Aden <aden...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a few boxes of various size that I put in my camelback when fishing but when I am in the water I find that my shirt's chest pocket is the best storage as I typically only throw a couple of patterns at a time. Although I would recommend smashing down the barb of your hooks.

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[Rob Snowhite]

Container store and craft store boxes are great. However they are not water proof so be careful when wet wading. Your hooks will get rusty if water gets in there. Container Store 4"x6" photo boxes are good with craft foam glued into them. However the latches break effort. Altoids boxes are good but small and will also rust.

One easy way to keep a few flies on a short trip is a pin on foam fly patch. Stick it on your shirt or hat and you are ready to go.

I love the foam floating fly boxes. Wish they came in blaze orange instead of olive (blue is ok) to see when I drop them.

And kudos to the name and number on all fly boxes comment. I lost a box last year with about 5 dozen flies. I got a phone call a few months later from someone who found it. All flies were in tact, no rust, no damage!

 

Rob Snowhite

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From: Jeffrey Silvan <jeffre...@gmail.com>
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 5:18 PM
Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} New fly tier question

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[Timothy Murphy]

I like to use the 2x4 & 3x9 Tupperware containers that have the locking lids.  I get them from the dollar store. I glue some foam in the bottom.  They are small and compact and watertight. They come with red lids. The larger one holds my large streamers without crushing them.

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[Sardman]

Plano makes a box for beads that is like the fishing one but costs half the money. I bought one at Walmart (for 3.99) had to fight with my daughter because she wants to use it for beads instead.

[Eric Y.]

A few years ago, one of the cartoons in Eastern Fly Fishing was a "eastern vs western" and the eastern guy had a bag full of fancy fly boxes and looked like he walked out of an Orvis catalog. The western guy was grizzly and had "a few film cans full o'buggers" and an empty dip can full of dries. I wish I had the image, but I can't find it online. Holds some solid advice, though. I may suggest storing them the other way around - my experience has been that dip cans will fill with water while film canisters stay pretty dry. Maybe an advil bottle would be even more dry, I don't know. 

[Carl Z.]

For storage, I classify my flies in three ways.

1) small dries,  These I just use the storage containers fro the craft store or Wal*Mart.  These are ones that beaders would use.  Now I usually tye a few patterns in multiple sizes so each box holds 3 or 4 types of flys in 3 or 4 sizes and you can pack them into the little containers  since they are all the same size, you don't need to sort them out later.

2) normal (size 10 and smaller) nymphs and wet's.  For size 14 and under, I just use the thin orvis fly boxes as each one will hold well over 100 flies.  For others, I use some other foam bottomed box and pack the nymphs in tightly.

3) Big honkin flys for bass and such.  These really require boat boxes.  I have started making my own with closed cell foam glued into the bottom of a scrap bookers tupperware box.  I score the foam with a knife every quarter to half an inch (vertical strips) and just pack the flys in as densly as I dare.  These big flys end up taking a lot of space, but keeping them organized and visible is essential for me.

When I go fishing, I use the "western approach"  I throw the flys I think I might use into some sort of fly box or film canister or pill bottle and throw them in my bag.  When trout fishing I try to stock a fly box, but when warm water fishing I am much less organized.

Carl

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