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BillF

Fly storage other than fly boxes

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I am trying to find a way to organize all my flies, other than storing them in boxes.

 

Over the years I have accumulated a number of flies and I think I need a better way to store them other than fly boxes. I would like to store them so I can find various dry flies, nymphs, etc, easily. I was thinking of some kind of container system.

 

Has anyone ever tried this and what were the results? Other ideas more than welcome

 

Thanks

Bill

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i store extra flies in fly boxes and compartmented boxes

 

look at plano tackle boxes

 

or

 

compartmented boxes

 

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I don't know if there IS a better way to store flies. Seems to me, the boxes do the job.

 

HOWEVER ... I've been thinking of putting up a 2'x2' sheet magnet on my wall. (You can get them from hobby outlets, for making car stickers or fridge magnets, etc.) With that on the wall, I can lay out a row of what ever I'm tying, then pick off enough for a particular trip. As long as I hang it high enough to keep it out of the cat's paws, it'll be okay with Wife.

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That's actually not a bad idea Mike, wouldn't work for me because I have a 2 year old who's determined to get into anything he's not supposed too, be way more convenient than piled in a box especially since I'm often looking through the hundreds of flys I've got from swapping.

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... I've been thinking of putting up a 2'x2' sheet magnet on my wall.

 

That's actually a great idea, Mike.

 

I have magnetic strips I glue to the inside of some of my DIY fly boxes, which are really useful for smaller flies, but the usefulness of a magnetic sheet above my tying desk never occurred to me.

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Thanks guys.

 

If you ever meet Wife, don't tell her I came up with a great idea. I've almost got her convinced I'm too much of an idiot to do anything right around the house!

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Like flytire I use compartment boxes, labeled by fly type for bulk storage. the only downside I see to magnet boards is UV and dust exposure, but a usable idea.

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If your storing flies I can't think of any way better then compartmental storage boxes. Myself, I like to store my flies unassembled and then assemble them when I need to replenish the few fly boxes I actually carry while fishing. Along the lines of mikes magnetic board I just keep a piece of sheet packing foam on my work table where I store flies before they go into a fly box in my pack. There's never more then a dozen flies on the foam since I don't tie flies to be collected, stored or sold. I do keep a small cache of flies in various trees along my local creek for streamside emergencies.

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I am in the middle of an existential crises with mine. Nothing is working for me, to my satisfaction, and my wife is threatening my existence if I don't straighten up.

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A glass or two of wine every evening, a dozen flies tied almost every morning. Traditional fly boxes just don’t cut it for fly storage. I tend to give away a lot of flies on the river when I meet anglers struggling. Mostly in Yellowstone, but at a lot of Montana access points as well. As such, I tend to carry a large backup of flies in the truck all summer. Using larger compartmented craft boxes (Michaels) and smaller empty hook boxes, I can stash hundreds of flies conveniently accessible if needed. If I need to replenish a small fly box, the extra flies are available. Back at the tying bench, the boxes provide an immediate place to store new flies.

Another trick I learned from a crusty old Florida saltwater angler, is the use of small zip lock bags instead of fly boxes for larger saltwater flies. Tie up some new deceivers and two or three go into a 4” x 5” zip lock bag (Michaels cheap by the 100s). Dozens of these bags can go into a simple plastic container, again easily stored in the truck during saltwater beach and flats wading trips. When walking a beach or wading a flat, carrying traditional fly boxes with large saltwater flies is burdensome. Instead, put 3-4 zip locks in your shirt pocket with a dozen flies and you are set. Comfort while fishing, convenient storage when not.

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When I'm carrying large streamers I use one of the sushi roll fly rolls, it's a nice easily accessible way to carry a ton of long flys.

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Flies that can be deformed (hackled dry flies etc.) I store in the craft boxes already mentioned. A lot of steamers, deerhair bugs, topwater flies also go into the same sort of box but those with adjustable compartments to accommodate for the fly size. Flies that could be stored in plastic sleeves go into soft plastic bait binders/wallets, the kind you would use for rubber worms etc. The bindr/wallets I have are basically a flat cordura zippered pouch with heavy duty ziplocks in them. Years ago I found some with all plastic zippers including the sliders, great for SW use. I loosely zip-tie a few together and then use a cheap aluminum carabiner to clip the bundle the to the strap of my tackle bag. That keep a whole lot of bulk out of the interior of the bag. One binder is nothing but Clousers Deep Minnows in various colors and sizes. EP style flies dominate another. I used to use plastic sleeves for off water storage but decided it was more work than it was worth and was a waste of plastic they now either go into "use" boxes/binders or into craft boxes.

 

Swamp

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I don't know if there IS a better way to store flies. Seems to me, the boxes do the job.

 

HOWEVER ... I've been thinking of putting up a 2'x2' sheet magnet on my wall. (You can get them from hobby outlets, for making car stickers or fridge magnets, etc.) With that on the wall, I can lay out a row of what ever I'm tying, then pick off enough for a particular trip. As long as I hang it high enough to keep it out of the cat's paws, it'll be okay with Wife.

An added bonus is small foam bugs when magnetized will orient N/S on the water.Think i'm kidding put one in a cup of water.

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