Decided to get a travel tying kit organized, but im having trouble sorting what things i should put in it. Anyone have a travel kit that can share some ideas?
Travel Tying Kit
Decided to get a travel tying kit organized, but im having trouble sorting what things i should put in it. Anyone have a travel kit that can share some ideas?
Give us some idea what your going to do with it. Use it stream side for the day or weekend, go to shows and tye, or extended stays some where. I'm sure you will get some great info for what ever your needs are.Originally Posted by DazWah
The best to you, Jesse
I will use it when i go away for more than a week or so and possibly a few days trips. I just bought the Fishpond Coyote bag and its great. I have put a few color threads, cdc, dubbing boxes, few colors of wire, antron yarn, grizzly and brown hackles, marabou , deer hair some foam and markers. Anything else be handy?
I went through this exercise a few years ago. I was traveling a week at a time for my job and needed something to stay sane in the hotels at night.
Here's what I ended up doing:
I very carefully went through all of my fly boxes and determined which patterns actually worked for me. THis means I was able to dump / purge a number of patterns that I had tied up because I had seen them in a magazine or on a Web page somewhere.
Kind of an interesting exercise to see what I actually used and had confidence in, but for me it was a good step. I did this in a hotel room over a weeks period and arranged / moved / pondered each fly until I came up with "my list-o-flies".
THEN, I made up a list of materials to tie each of these flies. Hooks, thread, weight, bead heads, chain eyes, feathers, etc.....
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne.
"When you know, to know that you know, and when you do not know, to know that you do not know - that is true knowledge..." Charlie Chan (author Earl Derr Biggers ...Behind That Curtain 192.
DazWah
From personal experience I can assure you leaving out critical elements and materials is a requirement!
For much of your materials think in terms of covering textures and sizes rather than colors. Then add some markers to cover the missing colors. Cream and grizzly capes are a minimum.
For dubbinig materials Atherton had it covered and I like to blend a lot of different colors into a general tone and have mixed a bunch of them... ie. an olive, gray and brown blend (three different blends in zip-locks) with small bags of black, white, yellow, red and spring green. Adding a little of the straight colors to the blends covers a huge spectrum.
While Atherton has a point I think suggestive flies are far better than exact color matches with the wrong silhouette...
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DazWah, you got some good advice for what to carry, and I second the blending of your dubbining to get what colors you need and to give a lot of thought on what type flies you will be fishing. On longer trips I use one of the pill holders that has 7 compartments. If needed I use 2, for one for dry and one for wet.These packed will hold more dubbing than you will use in a very long trip. I also pluck hackle ahead of what sizes I think I'll need and put it in a 3x6 or 2x8 zip lock bag with a piece of something like poster board to keep them straight. I don't bother to keep colors of hackle seperate, I just put them in one bag most of the time unless I am taking a lot. Again if space is not problem by all means take the whole cape or saddle of each, I will do this on longer trips away from home where I may not be sure what I may need, besides I just like to tye at times after being in new places and seeing local flies I want to tye... : )
A couple other things you you do not have listed and may need is a piece of pheasant tail and a piece of turkey tail about 6 inces long or if you want what ever amount suits you. A piece of black, white, and brown biots. A 2 inch piece of each has a lot on them but the whole strip doesn't take up much room. Just take what ever amount of tying stuff your comfortable with. Most of the things we use sure isn't heavy but can get bulky in a hurry. I also carry a pack of double edge razor blades when staying more than a long weekend. I use them for the deer hair, but scissors are fine if you prefer. This can make a mess in a motel room, so lay something down on the floor or use a tying waste basket on the vise.. : )I also take 3 sizes of lead wire or lead substitue depending on regulations where I go. A small hook bag of 3 sizes of beads covers most all the sizes I use, your choices may be different, and again you can put them in the same bag, or seperate small bags. Another couple of things maybe some flashabou and tinsel if you use it.
When I take anything on the stream for a day or long weekend or sometime even a week I carry most of it in a hard eye glass case or a plastic bar soap case. I cut the quill on a pheasant feather and a turkey tail so they fit in the case. I have a small narrow bag with plucked hackle of different kinds I think I maybe using, a small hook bag of mixed dry fly hooks and a small hook bag of mixed wet fly hooks. Coil some lead or lead substitue in the size or sizes you use around 2 fingers and lay them in the case. Coil some copper or siver wire you may and lay in the case. A small 1 or 1 1/2 inch piece of deer or elk hair if I think I'll need it. If you use the longer hair of either, I'd put it in a bag and slip it a vest pocket.
I cut the large plastic straws you get in fast food places into 2 or 3 pieces or even 4 pieces. Pack them with dubbin in the wet and dry type, use a magic marker and mark the straw with a D or W. The straws will fool you on how much you can pack in them. It just takes a few minutes to do it ahead of time, but once done it's no problem adding to as needed when you get home. I've never ran out dubbing doing this, and this is a good way to carry it in longer stays, just use the whole straw.
I modify this kit at times, with some chenille, marabou, rubber legs, soft hackle, small amount of flashabou, a small amount of small and medium tinsel, poly or antron yarn, just depending on what I maybe fishing for, so take what ever suits your needs. Another thing I've used is a length of mono folded over flashabou and pulled it through a staw to pull the flashabou in it. This keeps it organized and I just snip the amount I need of whats sticking and pull out more as I need it, or just put a rubber band around it. I think you maybe surprised at what will fit in one of these cases. I do keep 2 rubber bands or a hair elastic bands around my case. With small amounts of any of this you will be able to tye several flies. As for the vise's I use out I have base model traveler when staying in a room but when out on a stream, I use a pair of 4 or 5inch needle nose pliers that I filed the jaws down on a little and filed the teeth smooth. I brazed a #10 or #12, 2 inch long screw on the adjustment bolt end. You can use low temp silver solder and a propane torch to do this as well if you file the plating on the adjustment bolt and the screw. You want to take the adjustment bolt out to do this. I find a downed log to screw it in, sit down and tye away, or a piece of drift wood laying in my lap.
I do keep a piece of hose over the screw on the piers and a piece slipped over my scissors for safety reasons because I carry them in a vest pocket. The above kit along with the flies I take has been more than able to keep me fishing, or tying flies I may decide I need that I didn't bring. After few trips you will get a better idea of what you need or don't need thats for sure.
It's been a fair while since I used my little kit, I seem to have tied more flies than I will ever use in 5 life times, but if I were to get away from my home waters it would go with me for sure. I think you have a good start with what you listed, only you know what suits you best, just enjoy the figuring it out...: ) None of us ever stop learning or adapting, thats what makes fishing so much fun.
The best to you all, Jesse Sorry for such a long reply
In old age walking on a trail of beauty, living again may I walk.
thanks all for the replies, ive got a good idea what i need now.
may i add two more questions?
would y'all recommend taking that heavy base for the vise, or can i depend on finding somewhere to clamp the c-clamp?
and has anyone used the new Fishpond Road Trip bag?
fly fishing and baseball share a totally deceptive simplicity; that's why they can both be lifelong pursuits.
I think its a slimmed down version of the coyote, I have the coyote and love it, i haven't filled out nearly half of the pockets. For the essentials as mentioned in previous replies i think the roadtrip would be sufficient.
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