Budget fly boxes?

[Valhalla 1]

What with budget rod threads, budget reels, combos, etc, I have to ask...who uses budget fly boxes? Mostly I'm looking for good ideas, because an inexpensive fly box is harder to find than an uncrowded stream on opening day.

Now there are some really slick fly boxes out there, and I can see why they cost what they do from the construction of them. What baffles me is why even the cheapest, cheesiest flybox costs $10-$15? I have an assortment of boxes collected, none of them really expensive at all, and my only real criteria in choosing a box is that it hold the flys securely without buggering them up, and have a clear top so I can find stuff quickly.

Or is there a benefit to a $30-$50 fly box that I just haven't been sharp enough to figure out yet?

[bobbyg]

Myran boxes are inexpensive and work well for fly storage.

Google them and shop where you prefer.

Bob

[ol' blue]

I've used travel soap boxes from Walmart. I buy adhesive backed foam and stick doubled up strips into the box for mounting flies. The boxes are $1 (at most) and the foam is 50 cents a sheet. I can make 4 of them for under $5. Works great for the kids and for light traveling. They look like this:

The foam and box are both white, so it's tough to see too well.

The good thing is that they are cheap, and you can set them up any way you want. You can probably get some ripple foam into them, too. That's as economy as I get. I probably should mention that most of my boxes are system-x, though.

[Buddy Sanders]

Vahalla,

Owning nice stuff is fun. I have a couple of 'expensive' (if it's a container and it costs over $30, it's 'expensive') fly boxes that I have received as gifts over the years. They seem to be fine, hold the flies well, pretty water tight, look nice.

But this falls into a 'how good does it have to be?' category for me. I have access to lots of bass style plastic boxes, Plano 3600 and 3700 styles, plus some smaller ones.....they aren't expensive, but won't fit in a fly vest...I use them for bass, pike, and trout fishing from a boat.

I can buy smaller flip top plastic boxes at any tackle store that do fit in a fly vest. I just found an assortment of three at Sports Authority that I got for $2.99....with waterproof gaskets even. Plano sells one that is a single large container, so if you want that foam stuff to stick your hooks into, you can glue a couple of sheets into one of these....generally they are less than $2 most places.

I bought a bunch of really cheap 'pill boxes' at the dollar store....each one has three compartments and will hold a couple of dozen flies (7/$1). I do have to deal with the single letter from the 'S-M-T-W-T-F-S' on the front of each and the 'morning, noon, evening' on each lid...but for the price, I can do that.

If you tie and give away as many flies a I do, you look for ways to save on packaging. I buy those little 2 ounce condimdnt cups, 2500/$9.99, at CostCo...lids cost $4.99/1000. You can put quite a few small flies in these, plus they are perfect for mixing epoxy, on the bench storage of whatever (beads, dumbell eyes, bulk hooks...). I've fond myself carrying these more and more into the field...I'll put a few of a fly I want to 'try out' into one and stick it in a vest pocket so it's easy to find.

For larger flies, I use more and more of the fine tackle packaging made by the folks from Glad. Zip lock plastic baggies come in lots of sizes....you can separate out different large streamers or topwater flies easily, and cram quite a few of them into a vest pocket or tackle bag compartment. Water proof if you close them properly, cost penies each.

If you only fish where you 'know' the fishing well, a couple of small fly boxes with exactly the right stuff is probably all you really 'need'...but if you fish unfamiliar waters, or fish for a lot of different species, or just fish a lot of different places over the year, it can get pretty pricey to keep fancy fly boxes for each type of fly/species/location (depending on how you choose to organize them). Putting the flies into the boxes and then pulling them out to 'reset' your arsnenal for each outing is way too much work for me.

I knew a fellow that liked to work with wood...he made some really nice fly boxes that fit his vest exactly (that's becomiong more and more of a problem it seems-box makers and vset makers don't seem to talk much...). If you have such skills and the time, it's pretty classy looking and very effective. Cheap except for the time involved.

Buddy

[Crotalus]

Vahalla,


I bought a bunch of really cheap 'pill boxes' at the dollar store....each one has three compartments and will hold a couple of dozen flies (7/$1). I do have to deal with the single letter from the 'S-M-T-W-T-F-S' on the front of each and the 'morning, noon, evening' on each lid...but for the price, I can do that.

I use similar boxes for hooks, a little acetone and a paper towel will take the letters off the box and make them much easier to see through. Unless of course they are the raised letter type

[gadabout]

Myran boxes are inexpensive and work well for fly storage.

Google them and shop where you prefer.

Bob

+1

These are excellent boxes and seem to be under the radar of most fishermen. I don't think of them as "budget boxes". Rather they are well-made boxes that don't happen to be outrageously overpriced.

[jimsnarocks]

I bought two boxes recently like you are describing. One with flat foam on one side and a clear top, the other with ripple foam and a clear cover. $12.95 and $7.95 from Big 5 Sporting Goods. The ripple foam (7.95) holds about 100 #12 to #20 midges and dry flies. The flat foam holds about 30 #6 to #10 streamer style flies. Also flyshopcloseouts.com has some inexpensive boxes. Jim

[Crotalus]

Or is there a benefit to a $30-$50 fly box that I just haven't been sharp enough to figure out yet?

The benefit is not in the fact that they cost $50. For me i really like the C&F boxes because of they way the slit foam holds dry flies and does not damage the hackle and for the number of flies they can hold. they are waterproof too which is a nice benefit.

I wish they were closer to $15-$20 though.

I have read that there is a knock off of the C&Fs that works as well at a fraction of the price but i havent been able to check them out yet.

[DickM]

Valhalla 1........
About three years ago I was Bonefishing at Turneffe Flats, Belize.
We were in a 16' Dolphin flat boat going from one flat to another a high speed.
I had neglected to put one of my C&F waterproof boxes away and it was on a seat next to me.
Well, we hit a good sized wave and the box flew out of the boat as we were doing probably 30 or 40 miles an hour.
By the time we slowed down and turned around, we must have been 100 yards from where I had lost the box.
We went back and after about ten or fifteen minutes of searching, we found the box floating along like a little sailboat. Any other box would have been on the bottom.
When I started counting the recovered flies, I figure that I had saved from $350 to $400 worth of flies.
That's what makes the expensive boxes worth it.
DickM.

[Eight Thumbs]

I've used Hook and Hackle brand fly boxes for years. Their boxes have foam ridges on one side and flat foam on the other. They ranged for $5-$6 for small boxes (shirt pocket size) to $10 for a larger box (hard to stuff in bluejean pocket). I've found them to be very satisfactory. I also use soap boxes like Ol' Blue, they work well too. Sorry, no rose-wood, engraved fly boxes here. 8T