Organizing your fly boxes
I've been having this internal battle with myself about how to organize my flies. At present, I have my flies organized according to species of fish they're to be used for. The drawback is that a lot of my trout flies work really well for BG and other species. And of course I have buggers in every box because they work for everything. I've been thinking of r-organizing so that I have a box for dries, one for nymphs & wets, and one for streamers. Then of course I've got to find some place for the poppers, sliders and bass bugs.
How you guys all have your organized????
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
I have one box soley dedicated to bluegill and crappie. I recently added some smallmouth flys to the box so I can take it to a local river. This particular river has a nice mixed bag of fish and the smallies range in size from 8" - 12".
My dilema is for my dry flys. Right now I have two boxes. One for Adams type flys and one for Caddis type. I am thinking of buying a Dewitt 18 compartment and put all my drys in one box. I have one box for nymphs and another for buggers and streamers. Plus a box with smaller drys and a midge box.
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
Norm, I applaud you for your organization, and I'm envious of your skill. Outstanding collection of beautiful flies.
I have about 15+ fly boxes (God only knows why) that became cumbersome carrying in my vest. One day I sat down and asked myself, "If I could only have one box with me for my warm water fishing, what would I have in there?" From that came a box that has served me well for the past two years, and I just restock it from the other boxes. I then have two boxes that I carry for steelhead fishing.
Joe
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
Hey Wild - great question.
I guess I have two issues...orgranizing my fly boxes AND doing it in such a way that I'm not dragging everything to the stream with me every time I get out to fish.
Right now I have them split up between 6 boxes into nymphs/wets and dries.
Which is fine EXCEPT that I dont' want to be hauling everyhting with me when I leave the house to fish - LET ALONE trying to pack/cram them into my vest pockets.
I went fishing with Joe B (alra) a week or two ago and he has a vest/pouch system that I'm extremely covetous of! He's able to fit what he needs into there and it's compact and provides easy access to his "stuff". It's a great system and he must have the discipline to keep it from getting over stuffed - which I would have done before I could even leave the house.
So while it's realtively easy to organize your flies by box...how do you select only what you need to go fishing?
I'm getting to know the waters I'm fishing and food sources there...so why do I still bring all the flies that match hatches in Montana but not here? Why do I have these sz 6 stonefly nymphs if I know their not in these waters?
THAT is more of a problem for me than the actual organization.
Do you run into the same issue? Do you drag everything out with you everytime or are you able to organize it in such a way that you only take one box with you? I would imagine that you still have flies left over in your flybox from Utah...? are they still in your fly box or are they set aside for now?
Jim
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
I organize by boxes similar to Norm. When I go on a fishing trip I take out the flies I think I'll need and setup two or three boxes (dries, wet/nymph and midge).
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
I make this pretty easy. I have one fly box that I carry with me on the water. When I arrive at the lake/stream, I load that single box with what I think I'll need for the day. I put streamers and larger flies, hoppers & beetles on one side and dry flies and small nymphs on the other side.
When I'm warm water fishing, I put woolie buggers, streamers, SanJuan worms and other below the surface flies on one side, and poppers, spiders, hoppers, etc onn the other.
Thats's about it. I'm not smart enough to remember where I put everything so I only carry one box on the water with me. It works for me but may not work for anyone else.
Jeff
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmadsen
Hey Wild - great question.
So while it's realtively easy to organize your flies by box...how do you select only what you need to go fishing?
I'm getting to know the waters I'm fishing and food sources there...so why do I still bring all the flies that match hatches in Montana but not here? Why do I have these sz 6 stonefly nymphs if I know their not in these waters?
THAT is more of a problem for me than the actual organization.
Do you run into the same issue? Do you drag everything out with you everytime or are you able to organize it in such a way that you only take one box with you? I would imagine that you still have flies left over in your flybox from Utah...? are they still in your fly box or are they set aside for now?
Jim
What Jim said I think is the real issue.
I have this innate fear that I will be fishing and wish I had some fly[s] that I tied but left home. It's curse ...I'm one who doesn't change flies often so I should probably discipline myself to just pick a few for each outting.
I've even fantasized about having bins like the fly shops have and just handpicking the flies as needed....
I actually do organize my tying supplies somewhat like shops..a pegboard system...
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
It great to read this and realize I am not alone. I have some of ths same problems of what to take to the water.
As far as organizing my stock of flies, I seem to now have that under control. I once used the vest size fly boxes for all my flies, but when I got past about 16 boxes it got out of hand. So now I keep my stock of flies in those adjustable Plano 16 -30 compartment retangular tackle organizers. If you buy them from Cabelas or Bass Pro shop they are about $2.50 each. They have adjustable dividers. I have several of these labeled for Caddis, Stoneflies, small mayflies, large mayflies, terrestrials, buggers, etc. Some have both wet and dry patterns like my caddis box, others like my mayfly boxes are dries with a "nymph" box for the wets. The point is, these are organized by insect class/pattern. When I go to a particular fishing location, I draw from these to fill a vest size box for daily fishing. I generally carry 2 vest boxes, one for wets and one for dries.
Dr Bob :D
Re: Organizing your fly boxes
jim
Yes I do have the same problem. I typically take 4 or 5 boxes with me anytime I fish. I know its not efficient, but I-like Joe-can't get past the feeling that I might just need those size 18 or 20 BWO's and PMD's. I never have, but when I first started fly fishing there were a couple of years when I didn't have a good collection to rely on. All I really had were Adams, GRHE, and Humpies. I always felt unprepared and whenever I go that fear creeps back. Funny thing is, I always caught fish with those 3 patterns. Always. But I fished with a buddy and his Dad that had every pattern you could dream of and was always jealous of that.
Now, I have my go-to Utah box and that is ALWAYS in my vest. I cannot let go of that one, and it is always the first one I look in, just out of habbit. I might need a bass bug or a popper, but my naturally reaches for my Utah trout box.
I really like the idea of bringing it all to the water and taking only what you might need in one box for that time period. I am definately going to adopt that habbit and stick to it. (Undoudtedly, it will be the box that always held my home trout go-to's with a few additions.)