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.
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.
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
A bad days fishing is better than a good days work…
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
You can call me Mike & you can call me Mikey…Just remember that this site’s about sharing!
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.
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.
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
“It is not our differences that divide us; it is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences” Audre Lorde
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 !!!
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.
Ouch!!! I know the feeling but I was lucky enough to go back and retrieve it. I knew it was a longshot but some years ago I backtracked for eight hours to find my favorite hunting knife. I decided my flies would be worth the effort too but I only spent two hours on that little adventure. I would have been willing to spend the whole day if necessary.
I started using the smaller C&F fly boxes last year I have several of them they are the 4 leaf one’s and hold over a thousand dolors each in flies. A friend and I got talking about it last winter and how much it would hurt to lose on of them. I made two clips that stay on my vest and I can hook the boxes to. The box has a nice little place to connect them to your vest.I breath a lot easier now. I could not imagine losing one of them or even two of them. Granted I tie for a living and could replace them but it would still cost a bunch both in time and money.
Sorry to hear of your lose. I have to say I to have lost boxes over the years. You learn a hard lession that way. ron
Great advice guys. I have labled all my boxes and will be tying them to my vest. I predominatly fish lakes and small ponds but occasionally fish a few local rivers. While I didn’t lose it in the water I can see that happening.
I am just grateful it was just a fly box and not a Hewlet packard IPAQ, like what I use at work for data colection in the field. I work forestry consulting in pretty remote areas and this happened to a guy at work. The price of the IPAQ is nothing compared to the two weeks work he lost and had to redo without pay. He’s the type not to back up his data nightly just incase.
Sorry Man! I had the same thing happen to me several years ago. Fortunately, I found it the following week, in some tall grass. It sucks having to replace all those patterns.
I lost my wallet on the stream one time too. Again, I was fortunate that some good people found it and sent it back to me. I sent them some flies as a thank you.