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Ok you now have all of your feathers, furs,
threads, tinsels and etc all neatly stowed
in your various boxes, and accurately recorded
in you data base, right?
Now you are looking at Hooks and dubbing and paints.
Well quit looking and gather them up, sort them out
into general piles, pints here, hooks there, dubbing over there.
Hooks are fairly easy, you have two choices. You can
leave them in the boxes supplied by the manufacturer,
or you can get a hook box and transfer them into that
for storage. If you get your hooks in bags, a box is
a much more appealing idea.
Now when I say a box, I am talking about a box
designed for hook storage. They are available at
just about all fly shops for about $8.00, which
they are well worth.
These have appropriate size molded compartments
with a radiused front in the bottom of each compartment.
This aids greatly in getting the hooks out, especially
those pesky little buggers.
The first thing you do, before putting any hooks
into the box, is to throw a magnet into the bottom
of each compartment. These will keep the hooks from
running away from home when you aren't looking. You
can get magnets at craft stores for a few cents each.
(I know stainless hooks will not be attracted to magnets,
so either don't use a magnet, or do what I do and don't
use stainless hooks (they take too long to dissolve if unremoved))
Now get all of your dry fly hooks, arranged by size
into the box. then your wet/nymph hooks. streamer
hooks and etc. Add each of these to your data base
also. If you tie fresh and saltwater it is a good
idea to use separate boxes for each.
Next comes paints, which are easy. Make sure the lids
are on securely and put them into a numbered box and
enter into your data base. I do the same thing with my
various glues, but I keep them in a separate box, which
is also recorded using our system.
Dubbing is a rather interesting commodity. It comes in
more colors than are commonly found in nature herself
and you can never keep all of those little envelopes
straight, right?
Well, if you have those little cubes ala SLF congrats,
that is one solution, as are the multi lidded boxes
with the little hole through which you pull your dubbing.
The later are available through most fly tying catalogues.
I like my way the best, but feel free to use whatever
works for you.
Some years ago, when I was first getting started in fly
tying I purchased a complete Ligas Dubbing Wallet filled
with 36 or so colors. I was not giving any particular
thought to it as a storage devise. I just figured I would
never have to buy another package of dubbing as long as
I lived. Yeah right!
Now many years later I have accumulated a gargantuan
quantity of dubbing in all sorts of material. There
is antron, there is poly, there is fine and dry, there
is beaver, ad infinitum.
Now, one day, looking at the pile of bags containing
my dubbings, the one of which you need today never
being at hand, a light bulb was turned on within the
recesses of my cranial cavity. The wallet that Ligas
had put their dubbing into was not just a neat idea,
it was brilliant.
Off to the local stationary store and to the area
where they have the plastic business card pages for
three ring binders. (This was also suggested by John
Brkich, in an EMail he sent me, Thanks John)
I purchased a sufficient number these for my needs and
headed home to the bench. First, I made up a label for
each and every color, and type of material. These are
indispensable to me as I am color blind. (gee could
that be why the fish gaze so quizzically at some of
my offerings) anyhow, this has solved that problem.
The labels are made up from the alphabetical list
generated by our data base, and affixed to each little
compartment on the page.
All of the pages having been stuffed and recorded are
put into the binder according to type. This way if I
want an antron, but am not sure which color, they are
all together in a group. The same for the beaver etc.
Ok you now have all of your feathers, furs,
threads, tinsels aly tying materials.
Now when you want to tie up a few, you will
know right where to go for the materials you
need. Since you now know what you have, you
hopefully will not duplicate a material and
waste money you might have used to purchase
something else.
Your spouse and family are happy, cause your
"junk" is finally cleaned up, and they can
sit without fear of being your next catch.
And you are now able to tie nicer looking flies,
because your blood pressure was not elevated
searching for the "eyelashes of a Colombian newt"
which you can now find with ease.
"You are now officially Organized"
Good luck, and good tying,
George E. Emanuel
~ George Emanuel
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