Popper Box

[lastchance]

How do you fly fishermen carry your foam smallmouth and bluegill poppers in your vest? Is there a special box you can buy?

[Uncle Jesse]

I mostly foam tube but I have boxes for warm water and for trout flies. I have had boxes with foam to hold the flies and divided boxes where they are just kept in a section of the box. Both work well. Other than the fact they tend to take up more space there is no reason not to have them in a box with trout fiies. Because we accumulate a good many prescriptions bottles, I frequently use them to transport bugs from my bench to a float tube box or to friend.

[aged_sage]

I use a #2 washtub! And a square one at that!!

Seriously, they can be a PITA, as most "fly" boxes are so shallow that they 'crush' the collars if left stored in a closed box for very long (Yeah, I know about steaming them, or running very hot water over them to restore the collar, but who has access to such on the water?). I use the deeper, moveable partioned boxes that the bait casters use for their lures. I can adjust the size of the compartments to fit the bugs.

These boxes are available at a lot of fabric and craft shops; thus, you do not have to go to a tackle shop to find them. I bought a couple of 'fishing gear bags' at Bass Pro a few years back that came with 5 such plastic boxes in them, have two large zippered pouches (one on each end) for reels and extra spools, a meshed pocket for tippet materials, etc., on the outside of each end pouch, and a large zippered pocket on the back side for snacks, or whatever. They have solved a lot of my earlier problems. (No financial interest!)

[lastchance]

How about one of these? I used to have one during my former spin bass fishing days.

http://www.basspro.com/Berkley-Strap.../product/1560/\]


Or this only 8 1/4" long.

http://www.basspro.com/Plano-Double-...product/74077/

[anglerdave]

I carry my bluegill popers in a small C&F knock off box. Since the poppers are small and I tend not carry a great deal of them, this seems to work fine.

I did carry my smallmouth poppers in a large foam lined fly box and still do from time to time, but have switched over to a box with 6 compartments. Most of my smallmouth poppers are hard bodied so I am not all that concerned about them getting crushed. I carry my largemouth bass poppers in the same style box. Most of those are made out of deer hair and are larger so the this style of box works for me.

Dave

[CoachBob]

I use something like the 6-1/2" x 3-5/8" x 1-1/8" plastic box from bass pro [http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shop...roduct/13316/]. With moveable compartment separators this can accomodate about any size popper.

[aged_sage]

The "Extreme 360" bag on the Bass Pro site (above link) is what I have, and referred to earlier.

Frank

[CoachBob]

I've owned one of the strap-on tackle boxes you give the site for since the 80s. It's a cool idea but you wear it like a fanny pack on your front side. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it had a lot of positives, like providing a work shelf (when it's folded down) while you're standing by/in the water. I stopped using it because I don't need something that big to bring a few flies to the water. But it is pretty cool.

[flywatersmallie]

I use one of the Cliff Beast boxes for my smallie flies(poppers, mice and the like fit fine) on the water. I have a file system at home of Plano 3700 boxes to keep everything organized and I can just restock when need be.

I have seen people make their own version of my box though. Pencil cases (from Hobby Lobby?) or pistol cases with a little foam glued in will work great.

[Gigmaster]

I use those cheap little Plano plastic boxes from Walmart. They fit in my vest pockets, and hold a lot of poppers, and foam bugs. I also use them to mail off flies for fly swaps. They run around $2.00 each.