lost fly box.... a rant and vent

[HMD]

It's been un seasonably hot here for the past while 35 C and not cooling off much at night 25 C maybe if we are lucky. Needless to say water temperatures have risen and the fishings been lousy as a result. The last few nights we have got some heavy rain and thunder showers which have cooled it off alot.

Well I haven't been out fishing for almost two weeks because of the heat. ( I don't care for it and the trout tend to agree) The trout were not very active this morning but I would have probably landed some pan fryers from this small stocked lake.

When I get out this morning I don't have my go to fly box. I search frantically for it nothing, not this pocket or that pocket of the vest......maybe it fell out in the car, nope nothing. I fish for a bit with what I have but have very little luck, one small rainbow who got off and never came back for what I had or anything in my other two boxes......and the best flys I had were all in the one lost box.

Frustrated I put the gear away in the car and just watched the lake and poked around the lake to see what the trout were taking, not able to fully enjoy it as my best flys were in my lost box. All I could think about was where is that box I spent hours tying, so I went home to see if it was there and nothing. Thinking about it could it have fell out of my vest when I was leaving the lake last time I was there in the darkness? Possibly. Dispite being a small lake with a dedicated few that fish it I doubt I will see my box again, it was a Holiday weekend last I was there and as a result well travelled by folks unknown.

I guess I'll have to spend more time at the bench and re-tie everything I can remember that was in the box. Not that time at the bench would be bad it's just I need to go by more materials and hooks to replace everything ( also not a bad thing), it's just the time I don't have right now to be ready for tonight's hatch or to be ready for any good fishing this weekend........I just get Mad when i loose things so it isn't the best for relaxation which is why I fish.

O'well lost it nothing I can do except tie a box of better flys and move on. Guess I"ll be more careful and put my boxes in more secure vest pockets in the future.

-Hillard

[ny angler]

Sorry for your loss ... have done the same thing .That said a very smart woman "my wife" talked me into putting those free adress lables you get from tu, ducks unlimited ,conservation clubs and such on every fly box.I have actually been beaten home by one box dropped in the salmon river . If your fishing out of town i put on a cell # or hotel# . I do the same thing when traveling with pets .Just in case.Just another reason to get back to the tying bench.

[HMD]

Thats an excellent idea, I never really thought about doing that. Funny how Wives and Girlfriends think up such great ideas all the time. Must be like when our mothers use to put name tags on our underwhere when we went away to camp as kids....lol

I'm heading out to Wally world right now and getting some lables I can do that with

-Hillard

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A bad days fishing is better than a good days work......

[ohiotuber]

Hillard...I lost my box of favorite ants last year at my favorite pond, but it was when construction people were there rebuilding a bridge...the box wasn't found by my friends, & could have been removed, buried by machinery, etc. Sad, but in lifes' scope, pretty minor loss.

ny angler....that's a GREAT idea! Give your wife a hug from Ohio!

Mike


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You can call me Mike & you can call me Mikey..Just remember that this site's about sharing!

[William Fitzgerald]

Yes I have used the stickers on all of my fly boxes for years--In a earlier post on the same subject I told how my daughter walks Lake Michigan after storms and found a bag filled with 180 trolling steelhead lures off a party boat. No names and after a long search for the owner gave them away for a couple days trip fishing.

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Bill

[Jed]

I am sorry to hear you lost so many of your favorite flies. My suggesstion is that you tie your boxes to your vest. I use some tarred string (that is small chord that is impregnated with tar so it lasts forever) and each box is tied with a piece of tarred string to the d rings or the zipper pulls. It is occaisionally a problem but I don't loose fly boxes.

The tarred string is available at good boating stores.

jed

[malevo]

I normaly attach the box to the zipper of my vest. It is very easy for the cheap plastic box because they have a litle plastic ring where you can pass a cord and attach it to the vest. This is a trick that I learned from someone in Michigan Fly fishing Club (I don't remember his name now). He said that it also prevent you to loss the box in fast water if the box floats or in lakes if it sinks.
The address sticker is not bad idea either.

Malevo

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"It is not our differences that divide us; it is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences" Audre Lorde

[Ray]

The last time I lost a fly box i was as upset as you must be, then in winter I went to tie i found the box in my tying desk. I hope you are as lucky!

[MR.JML]

Not only did I lose a fly box, but both my wife's & my fishing licenses were in the box.
I don't mind someone keeping the patterns I tied; but they could have the honesty enough to return the licenses !!!!! Not the first time I've lost a box of flies !!!!!

[RickB]

I also use the labels on my other fishing gear (rods and reels at least) just in case. You can also put a coat of clear nail polish over them to provide extra durability and water proofing. I think that was in one of Lefty's tips.

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Fish more, work less!