ok my fly box’s are not out of control! every time i find a new fly i like i add a couple to my box. well now i carry 3 box’s crammed full and i fish some remote, back woods places that require hard hiking! on a typical day i do not use but 3 maybe 4 different fly’s yet i still con not bring myself to reduce weight and carry just one box! i have my Wheatly for dries and nymphy’s, an Orvis for muddlers and wooly buggers and a Perrine for big dries and streamers, its a sickness i tell ya!!
At this point my boxes are a disaster; I bought a couple of those 6 compartment boxes from Wal-mart just to hold flies that were coming off the vise to replace what I was losing and I ended up stuffing them in my vest to add to the confusion. The only way they’re going to get organized is:
- a bout of the flu that lays me low for a few days but leaves me strong enough to sit up and get things where they belong, or
- if winter comes early
I’m hoping neither happens; I’ll live with the mess.
Regards,
Scott
They’re supposed to be organized?
Rick
I’ve been there, done that! A few years ago, I bought several new slit foam boxes and decided to start over. I gave some thought as to how to organize my boxes and even made row by row diagrams of how I intended to populate them. I think the key for me was to think hard about what flies I was really using. I now carry fewer patterns, but more flies of each pattern. Basically I carry …
– Medium size box with all purpose nymphs eg, scuds, PTs, HEs, Princes
– Medium size box with midge and mayfly adults. These are organized by our local hatches – eg, BWOs, Hendrocksons, Sulphurs.
– Medium size box with caddis and terrestials
I carry the first two boxes all year and add the third in April or so. I don’t carry a streamer box, but I have a small selection of streamers on a foam drying pad in my pack
Of course, it hasn’t stayed quite that simple. I’ve added a small box specifically for tricos which I carry during trico season. I’ve also added a box of large mayfly drakes – nymphs and adults – which I carry at times and in places where I expect to run into them. I also have a number of boxes at home which serve as “warehouses” for resupplying my boxes.
Another concept that might be worth considering is carrying what a friend of mine calls a “turtle box”. This is the box where he keeps the experimental flies , swap flies, and such that haven’t earned his confidence.
Same problem here. Then I go to add a few new flies but there’s no room left to put them where they SHOULD go, so a couple foam hoppers get stuck at the end of a row of midges and…well, you know.
I’m midway through an “organizing” project. Here’s what I’ve done so far. First, I took every fly out of every box I have and separated them into 3 categories: Dry, nymph/wets, and streamer/terrestrial. Next, I bought several Plano model 3701 plastic boxes and began the process of putting flies into their respective Plano box in some semblance of an order. I needed 5 Plano boxes for my collection of flies (I could have made done with 3 if I crammed more into each compartment). These Plano boxes make it really easy to visualize what you’ve got and they are stackable. They are low profile and have up to 35 compartments per box. Dividers can be removed to allow for bigger streamers and such.
The next step for me is to choose flies from each box to assemble an appropriate mix in a smaller box for whichever waters I fish. All 5 Plano boxes can all be packed into a carry bag should I choose to take them all on a trip, but I’m trying to avoid that. While this plan may not work as well as I’m hoping, it at least forced me to take an inventory of flies I’ve collected over the years and will probably keep me from buying more stuff I already have!
This is only slightly off topic, but if you are thinking of buying more boxes, I just got one of these and I think it is super, very well made, each little compartment has its own little spring lock, its classy looking. And the price is right…
I organize my boxes to particular insect or type - Baetis, PMD’s, March Browns,Caddis, Midges, Streamers and Buggers, Attractors, Stoneflies and a lot more:
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](http://s305.photobucket.com/user/planettrout/media/SOME FLY BOXES/BAETIS-BWO-2-.jpg.html)
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](http://s305.photobucket.com/user/planettrout/media/SOME FLY BOXES/BAETIS-BWO-1-.jpg.html)
Baetis/BWO’s
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](http://s305.photobucket.com/user/planettrout/media/SOME FLY BOXES/rw-side-2-1.jpg.html)
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](http://s305.photobucket.com/user/planettrout/media/SOME FLY BOXES/rw-side-1-1.jpg.html)
Attractors/Euro Nymphs
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](http://s305.photobucket.com/user/planettrout/media/SOME FLY BOXES/midges-side-2-1.jpg.html)
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](http://s305.photobucket.com/user/planettrout/media/SOME FLY BOXES/midges-side-1-1.jpg.html)
[b]
MIDGES
[/b][
](http://s305.photobucket.com/user/planettrout/media/SOME FLY BOXES/P1060945-2.jpg.html)
Sparkle Pupa - deep and emerging
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](http://s305.photobucket.com/user/planettrout/media/SOME FLY BOXES/str-and-bug-fall-2012-1.jpg.html)
Buggers and Streamers
Dries and emergers for most Caddis and May flys have their own compartment boxes…
PT/TB 
You have asked a question you will be trying to answer the rest of your flyfishing career. Mine have been evolving for 45 years. I’m about the same as P. T. now too but I know it will change.
For trout fishing, I tend to catagorize my boxes.
- Small swing leaf box holds all my nymphs and scuds
- Mid size Orvis compartment box for bigger dry flies (size 16 & up). This box contains mostly Adams and Caddis Fly type patterns.
- Small slit foam box for wet flys and soft hackles.
- Small slit foam box for terrestrials.
- Orivs foam box for streamers and buggers.
- Small slit foam box with small (size 18 and below) dry flies and midges.
I only carry the terrestrial box during the summer and streamer box in the fall and winter. The others are always in my vest.
Since I drive up to four hours one way to go trout fishing I tend to carry everything with me. However, I have put together a minimalist box and carried that, but I also have the others back at the truck if needed.
Dave
Mines set up like planet trout but several years ago I downsized a lot and sold off flies here.I now have three trout boxes,a c@f regular for dries,another for nymphs then a larger c@f for terrestials,that’s what I carry in my filson strap vest.This year I bought a scientific anglers 116 big fly slit box for panfish poppers on one side and bead head streamers on the other and rides in a old army side pouch that has a flap on top that the box fits in perfectly with a smaller flap on front for some bass leaders.This is very user friendly when I want to pack light for a pond or creek trip.
thanks for all the suggestions, looks like i’m in good company with this addiction!
A few years ago I started to pack my boxes for the river and fish I was targeting that day. I found I was brining too much stuff when I wore a vest or pack. So I pack one box with the staples, wooly buggers, bait / attractors et al and patterns for the fish I’m targeting that day.
This box is about the size of a microwave oven.
I read the title to the thread and thought it was the answer to my prayers!
I guess now I am glad that I am not alone.
I wonder if there is a correlation between how someone organizes their desk and how they organize their fly boxes. To an outside observer my desk is a mess but its an organized mess and I know where everything is. My fly boxes are the same way.
OK, that settles it: I hate you ;)!
Having lain my flybox of caddis flies on a log on top of my vest one hot day, on the Snake in the Tetons, only to find it missing the next day with all my caddis dries missing, I’ve changed my mind on storing flies. I, also, found that the hooks on my Elk Hair Caddis stored for several years had rusted at the contact point with the foam in my fly box. (They had apparently gotten moisture and rusted over several years). Currently working as a USFS campground host outside of Yellowstone, I find most of my tying needs to take place at home with my lighted bench in the winter. I store my newly tied flies in those plastic compartmented boxes in the craft store. I label them by fly types. Then select smaller numbers of flies for fishing trips as needed. I restock out the “bins”. I trade early mayflies for later ones as the summer and as conditions progress. A zillion nicely tied Royal Wulffs might look nice in a magazine, but are not necessary when 4 or 5 max would work for an afternoon of fishing. If lost-your out of luck or if they get wet, they might ALL rust over time. I use the smaller pocket size fly boxes with a variety of a few in each type. If dunked, I’ll usually remember to dry, if lost, I’ve got replacements and restock that evening back at camp. I purchase the large “bead-jewelry making” container at a craft store- usually $1.50-2.00 each with plentiful coupons. I store these in a large storage container at my camper. When I tie at home, all I need to do is look at my container labeled (for example) Stoneflies & Large Attractor Nymphs to see how many of each pattern and size I’ll need to tie that winter. As the summer progresses, the Stonefly nymph container goes to the bottom of the bin and the “Hoppers” container moves to the top.
To elaborate on my earlier post: With my Mayflies, I try to “get a feel” for what is happening on the stream. I have some smaller fly boxes organized as a “Life Cycle” type system. Mid-summer, I know I might see PMD’s in NE YNP so I pack some PMD nymphs, bead head PMD nymphs, two types of PMD dries, thorax and a comparadun and a spinner pattern into one or two smaller boxes. In the Smokies, I carry a similar set-up for Quill Gordons another for Hendricksons, etc, in early Spring then switch out to Light Cahills, Sulfurs in early June. When fishing in the National Forest outside of YNP, (with less selective fish) I’ll switch to attractor type pattern boxes- Trudes, Wulffs and Humpies and only a few realistic dries.
Randall
Planettrout, those are some of the most impressive fly boxes I’ve seen! KUDOS to you!
Mine tend to look like an episode of Hoarders Gone Wild.