Lesson learned but what do I do now
Arghhhhh, I can't believe it. I was moving my chest of fly tying stuff, and of course many drawers had loose hooks, not in their boxes. Thousands on the carpet. Got a magnet to pick them up. GUess I will walk barefoot to make sure I got them all. Luckily most were long streamer hooks but some of my small nymph and dries were there too. Is there an easy way or do I just take a day to sort them out?
Midstream;
I've had to sort 20's, 22's, 24's and 26's when I dumped my hook box!!
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Don't forget the Michigan Fish-In August 14th to the 20th. The Holy Water's of the Au Sable await you!!
Cactus
i just tie on hooks that look the right size, and if i can tell what the difference is on a 24 to 26 the trout cant either.
Look at it this way. The fact that now when you look for one specific hook you will see many other sizes and styles that can inspire your imagination to create new and better flies. It helps you "think outside the box" *G*
jed
Separating them by size is only half the solution. Which are nymphs/wet and which are dries?
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she who dies with the most toy's wins.
When I experienced the same problem but on a smaller scale, I resolved then and there that all of my hooks would be stored in their original containers with the original facts about each hook model number, type, size and manufacturer. I use a small chest of drawers such as is available for screws, nuts and bolts at the hardware store to store all hooks in their original packages or box. Each drawer is labeled accordingly.
Also, I sort my hook types by dries, wets & streamers, nymph, midges, saltwater , bass and blugill. This probably sounds anal as hell but it is working for me. I also make use of the little magnets that come in the Tiemco packages and also cut sheets of magnetized material for each drawer bottom.
When working at my tying desk, I remove only the amount that I will be using at the time and they are placed on a magnet that is on the pedestal base of my vise. Love those magnets!!!
Finally, I have a small spiral notebook where I maintain a record of the inventory and thus know when I need to replace used up items.
If you have grandkids, hire them to sort the hooks for you. They will enjoy making a few bucks helping granddad and you won't mind the small expense. LOL
Back when hooks came in cardboard boxes I began by taping one hook to the top of each box. I still do it with the see thru plastic boxes because they are all in a binch. There are so many hook numbers of different mfgs that gap and shank are often quite different in the same size. I;ve been doing this so long I know what all the old designations mean but there are so many new brands over the last dozen years it helps to see the actual hook.
As far as sorting now, there is no easy way...just pile all like looks in small piles
and it will become evident of descending size. . If they were in order by size before with no empty holes. If some are still in boxes, you can compare the loose ones once you have piled them all up.
The magnets that come with Tiemco hooks will keep them together if you spill your hook box.
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