Driftwood display ideas needed

[LisaLou 0]

I have lots of nice driftwood around here I collected this summer and just realized I could make some displays this winter.  Is there other options than those little black plastic fly hook holders?  Clear, tan or grey would look better if someone has a source.  I’d prefer to be able to remove the flies, not a permanent display.

 I’m kind of afraid of only magnets, but it would be a really clean look to countersink some magnets into the wood.  I could use my drill press or rotary tool easily enough.  Alligator clips are easily had, but they are kind of big and obtrusive.  But they could hold a tube fly, too.   

I was even thinking of a little piece putty that some of us older folks used before post it notes. Our moms would stick a note by the door with this grey putty gob.  At grandma’s place.  Preheat oven to 350.  Casserole in fridge.  Leave foil on.   Sometimes the note was on the floor because the putty had been used a thousand times already,  so you had to look around and find the wet illegible note stuck to the bottom of your snowy melting boot.  Otherwise, you’d be blamed for dinner being an hour or two late.   Anyhow,  it’s grey and would be kind of natural with driftwood.

Maybe Little Velcro patches instead of magnets?  I’ve collected some wine corks since taking up fishing again, so could use those somehow.  Just looking for driftwood display ideas since I can’t sleep.  Might as well tie a fly.

thanks and hope everyone else is sleeping, LL

[flytire 0]

ideas

fly display clips - Google Search

 

 

b

 

be creative

[agn54 0]

Look up electrical test hook clips. You’ll find the same ones shown above but at a much cheaper price, usually less than a dollar each. 

[jcozzz 0]

Another timely to me post.I just received 100 small alligator clips.9 dollars delivered.I plan on using bamboo shish ka bob sticks  to stick in a board.As for the driftwood,the magnets is a grat idea.There are some vey small very strong rare earth magnets.Imbedded below the surface and you could even hide them further with a dab of paint.I have recently seen opposing magnets to replave springs on small pliers nippers  etc.

[Gene L 0]

I would go with magnets over everything else.  Rare Earth magnets are so strong you have to slide them apart.  You can get them in any size, from small cylindrical about as big as a pencil lead. Smaller, really.  And about any size you want.  I've got some quarter-size magnets that are very strong. I use bigger of them glued on the end of a stick to pick up spilled hooks..

[LisaLou 0]

Thanks for all the good info, and not just about clips.  I like the idea of opposing magnets instead of a spring for thread to get tangled in.  
I was goofing around with magnets and I think they would have to be imbedded halfway into the wood on edge.  That way the slice of magnet sticking up can support the hook so the fly is upright.  I could touch up the face of the magnet with tan grey paint as needed, to blend in better with the wood.  Just putting the magnet flat doesn’t seem to work, the hook wants to lie flat in my experiments.  I’d have to make a tiny fly chair with armrests for the fly to sit in and be supported, in order to stay upright.  

The alligator clips for sure would be the easiest solution.  
Still thinking.  Still thinking.

I was thinking about making something like a string curtain.  Invisible fishing line tied to the eyes, so they hang down from the driftwood, rather than being affixed to it in some manner.  Easy to change them out, even if I tie them and don’t use a snap swivel.  My walls are white, but I could back them with a wall mirror, since we got a couple in storage.  I’ve got some really worm eaten and beat up driftwood which is pretty on its own and the wall spot doesn’t get direct sunlight at all.  Something more to think about.  I’d be fine with them hanging vertical and not be displayed horizontal.

[jcozzz 0]

maybe drill some small holes and use small pieces of balsa stained to match the wood.the hook points will hold in the soft balsa.I wopld not glue them in so they could be changed out in the future..just thinking out loud here.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

In the past when I was working fly and general fishing shows and needed a quick display I've used two different methods.  The first is the simplest - set the hook point of each fly into the driftwood itself - then remove it and add a very tiny drop of thin super glue to the tiny hole the hook left - and replace the fly into that same hole.  The super glue will hold it in place just fine - yet the fly is easily removed when the display is no longer needed....  Another method works well for reverse tied flies (meant to fish hookpoint up instead of down...).  Take a thin piece of styrofoam and insert half a toothpick from the bottom so that the point of the toothpick is sticking up about a half inch then simply place the eye of that reverse tied fly onto the toothpick for a great display (that can actually allow a customer to pick up the fly to be able to examine it any time they want - then it's placed back onto that tooth pick afterwards. You can get the same effect on driftwood by drilling a matching diameter hole into  the driftwood that will allow you to mount a fly onto that shortened toothpick point afterwards wherever you want it.  The toothpick mount works quite well for bendback and clouser style patterns in my world....

[DarrellP 0]

I have a Bob Clouser display and he glued the fly to an old barrel weight that was sitting vertical.  Glued onto the end of the upturned barrel with goop or silicone.  The old lead gave a nice neutral look.

[LisaLou 0]

 

These are some great ideas.  I did come up with an idea this evening, when I was making a set of eyes with beads and heavy fishing line.  I think if I drill very tiny holes the size of the line, it would support them decently so they could stand up.  For now, I used a part of a qtip and a bead to give them a little backbone.  They actually lock into the qtip so they don’t spin around, but only with that style of paddle qtip.  It didn’t lock in and not spin with other styles.  I melted one end a little so it wouldn’t pull through the bead, and doubled the line back though.  I used jewelry pliers to pull on the bottom of the stem to snug up the loop around the hook, and it’s tight.  I used a heavy sewing needle and put it into the loop next to the hook and wiggled it to loosen up the loop to remove a fly, it was that tight.  I did try many beads to find ones that were nearly too tight to double the line back through and needed pliers to pull, otherwise, the loop just wasn’t snug enough.  I’m not sure what size of line that is, but I think even a little heavier would be better, but I used the heaviest I had.  Plus I have a ton of beads just a little too big for that line.

But,  I’ve got to wait a see if the line gets too bendy and droopy.  This might be a fail by morning.  I did hang the line from my vise with a weight and ran a Butane lighter quickly up and down it a few times to get it to relax and take the coil out.  It would have been too curly otherwise.

 We’ve had a lot of company and chores to do the last few days because of the big storm coming, so I haven’t had much time for myself or to go through the driftwood pile.  I filled a resin trinket bowl I got for my birthday two years ago with a bunch of loose mixed beads and a few crystals.  I like it, but still want a driftwood wall display.

  I hope everyone is doing well during the storm.  
 

 Best regards, LisaLou

[flytire 0]

from a facebook posting

[LisaLou 0]

That is pretty cool!  I’ve seen similar made out of driftwood sticks for tabletop Christmas tree.

[jcozzz 0]

The tree is cool but seems like quite a project.The mono suspended flies are a great idea.Bugs hovering is a nice effect

[SalarMan 0]

I don't know. Seems like too little attention on the flies thanks to the elaborate display device.

[cphubert 0]

LL i like the birdbath / candy dish display maybe heavier / hard mono stems? overall it is an artistic colorful display.