TOE TAGS FOR FLY SWAPS – AN AID FOR FLY PATTERN IDENTIFICATION
Here I am, sitting at my computer with the fly boxes from the January Soft Hackle Fly Swap of Beginner's. I have 7 of the 8 boxes from this swap, and all of the dressed flies are beautifully dressed.
I have only one problem that has bother me for many years during these swaps. Some of the tyers in these fly swaps use hooks that do not have barbs, or the barbs have been smashed. This causes the Toe Tag to slide off of the hook.
As usual the light bulb came on, and once again I thought, "I am a dumb hockey puck!" Why I did not think of this earlier. Under my bathroom sinks there is the handle to attach the rod that controls the drain cover in the sink. You raise it to empty out the water, and drop it to hold the water in the sink. To secure this connection between the knob on the sink and the drain plug inserted in the sink drain is a thin metal plate that is bent in half to insert the metal rod of the drain lever.
The same principle will work for Toe Tags. Just bend the Toe Tag in half, insert the "Point of the Hook" through the folded Toe Tag and now the Toe Tag will not come off the hook while in shipment, because of the angle of the two sections holding the hook in place on the toe tag.
My apologies for being a "Dumb Hockey Puck", I should have thought of this many years ago…. ~Parnelli
For reference for the names for the various parts of a fishing hook, check out Tying Tip article "Anatomy of a Hook" http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/tyingtips/part114.php