Ok so I have this thing with the flies I tie, I need to have them all organized and in their place in the boxes I have for them, nice and neat like little soldiers in formation. My issue is that I cannot find a good fly box for midges (bead head zebra and such) ever box I have tried they fall out of the edges of them and mix and mingle where they do not belong and I eventually lose a few when I try to retie with a different pattern. So in my mind I believe that there is an R&D guy out there reading these threads looking for his next great thing to make for his company to make millions. i know a bit far fetched but a guy has to have hope…
In reality what do you all use and am I just being to anal retentive or am I not the only one that doesn’t like to see my flies desegregated? I have tried everything and my only problem is that I don’t like a box that you hook them in the foam since I have so many and in so many different color combos, currently I have them in one of the two sided ten compartment per side little divided thingy, and they are all over inside there.
I use almost exclusively plastic compartment boxes. I like foam boxes for nymphs and streamers…but no foam box I have found yet lets dry fly hackle lay right. SO I use the clear boxes with the feet that can snap together, in 6-8-12 & 15 compartments.
Maybe if it is only for midges and other minutiae (which tend to crawl over or under the dividers) a better solution would be the boxes sold at the drug store for a week’s pills. Some of them hold 7 days x 3 times per day. They close very tight, and some have individual lids for each compartment. The only challenge is getting the contents out - may have to carry tweezers for those flies.
Take a look at Cliff’s “Day’s Worth” box. It’s magnetic on one side. No “compartments”, but everything stays in its place due to the magnet. I use one for my bluegill wet flies and love it!
almost every midge I tie is on a TMC 2499 spbl size 16, the only exception to tha rule is larva lace midges that are tied on size 20 TMC 5263. I have thought about the pill boxes, I guess I’m just a bit of a purist in tat I just think it looks cheesy, although I will say I use old tap and drill tubes for bass flies, but I justify that in saying they are big manly flies they can go in something like a tap or drill tube since that also seems to be manly!!! (weird logic I know) I also tried the baggies, and then dropped about 30 flies in the water trying to change flies and decides that was a bad idea. I want style convenience and function all in one… (too much to ask I know)
I bought a cheaper small fly box and ripped out the foam on each side. I bought a roll of magnetic strips and glued each side of the box with the magnet strips.
Just drop the small midge flies on the magnet strips and they stay right there!
I use the small size, with the swing leaf, slit foam on all surfaces except one side of the swing leaf that has flat foam, which I use as a kinf of fly patch when I dont wanna hunt down the slot a fly came out of and put it in wet.
I use inexpensive compartment plano boxes, the small 4-and 6-compartment ones you can buy for a hair over a dollar at Wal-mart. For midges, put magnetic tape in the bottom of the compartments and the flies will stick.
I am a serious type B personality, so do not get upset if my flies are not organized, however.
I’ll throw a vote at magnetic. I bought a small box at Bass Pro it is a White River fly box no foam very small shallow compartments with magnets in the bottom. I keep all my zebra midges and wd40’s in it, works great has a laynard to wear around your neck.
Perrine made a couple of fly boxes that have one side magnetic and the other clip or spring. They work real good for holding those small flies. However the are no longer being produced - as far as I know.
Model #69 is about 2.5 x 3.5 and fits in your pocket quite readily. Model 101 is a larger version about 4 x6.
You can find these boxes on Ebay and in 2d hand stores & Flea Markets. It seems to me that the price of them keeps going up and this leads me to believe there is some devoted Perrine fans trying to garner a few more before they disappear.
I like that magnet idea! Just get any old fly box, remove the foam, and use adhesive-backed maget strips to align your midges on. Or, if you don’t WANT to mess with the magnet idea…
Thorne Bros. sells a Rose Creek box that works well with small hooks. There are guys in our fishing club that use these for all their tiny, heavy ice-fishing jigs…I’ve picked them up, opened them, and SHAKEN them…and the hooks don’t fall out!! I have a couple of these myself…
use the little boxes with six (or more) compartments. Glue a magnet, I like the neodymium ones from Michaels or Jo-anne, in the bottom of each compartment. They are the same metal magnets used in your net keeper. they hold really well. i usually break the magnets into parts, you don’t need much and the mags are really brittle and break well.
I use these for dry flies as well, for windy or sneezy conditions.
If you like the idea of the C&F boxes then I would give the H20 Bug Box a try. They are basically the same thing but at much more reasonable price. They are three for $40.00. I use two of them, one for dry flies and the other for smaller nymphs. I gave the other to my Dad and he loves it as well. http://www.dougswisher.com/accessories.htm You need to scroll down the page a bit to find them. Hope this helps.
Have some old guy show you one of the pill boxes designed to hold about a weeks supply of all the pills old guys take every day. About 40 individual compartments.
I can let you have some empty prescription bottle too, tough and cheap.
