I’m looking for some advice on how I can organize my fly tying material. Any suggestions? Pics would be great!
good luck … :roll:
Aside of feathers here. Fur there. Dubbing here. Marabout there too. Hooks over there. Non-fur/feather stuff right there. Popper paint here. Balsa there. Beads, wire, glue, tools, tubing, eyes, foam, bla, bla, bla …
Just starting out - do what works for you. And if you have a set tying station, you’re ahead of the game. In just 3 years I’ve re-organized my stuff so much I’m surprised I can find stuff (some I can’t and I know I have it).
Group them the way you best see fit and makes you comfy. This don’t help much I know, but as long as you know where the needed items are - that’s about all you need.
darrell,
CountyMountie,
Welcome!
Suggestions for organizing your tying station - forget-about-it! It’s a lost cause. You will be up to your neck in goodies and gadgets before you know it. 
I find sorting your materials by type in clear (semi clear) plastic tubs works for me. I also label the outside with a brief description of the content. Zip lock type bags sold at places like Tap Plastic are great for anything from feathers and furs to beads and hooks. You can also punch a hole in them and hang them on pegs or hooks. Tap Plastic also has an assortment of boxes to hold your ever growing collection of stuff. Other sources are big box stores.
Hi CountyMounty,
You didn’t indicate how much “tying stuff” you have so I’ll provide a couple of thoughts. Gretchen’s & my tying room has peg boards on the walls on which we place all materials/hooks on pegs just like you would see in a fly shop. In addition we have two free standing peg board display units in the middle of the room with material on pegs. The room also has a closet (it’s one of five extra bed rooms in our home) in which we pulled out the clothes hanging bars and installed shelving. Two free-standing shelf assemblies round out our storeage needs.
Our travel tying kits are medium sized, roll-behind suitcases many people use as carry-on luggage when traveling via airlines. We keep our materials in cordura cases Grethcen made. We keep the hook in a zippered case made for covering a regular size paper-back book. Take care & …
Tight Lines - Al Beatty
www.btsflyfishing.com
Getting Organized is actually a topic under Fly Tying here on FAOL.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/organize/
If you haven’t found our Tying Tips section you are missing out on some really good stuff. :lol:
CountyMountie:
Everybody has great suggestions, just find a system that works for you, your space and budget. Keep in mind that if you ever want to travel and tie, if you store stuff at home in a effective portable manner, you can “grab and go” and won’t need to build a separate travel kit and duplicate many items. That’s what I do.
All my tools are in a large Plano box in the center drawer of my desk. A working quantity of body materials including dubbing, chenille, Fibbettes, foam etc. are in other drawers along with compartmentalized boxes of hooks, beads, etc. Extra materials are stored in Rubbermaid containers. Hackle and feathers are also stored in Rubbermaid containers. When I travel, I throw what I need in a large duffel along with my spare vise & light and I’m on my way.
Another thing I do that works for me is to color code my working body materials. I store them in their original packaging in a larger Zip Lock bag by color. I have a bag of olive, grey, black, brown, tan/cream, and white/yellow/orange. This way when I want to tie a fly with an olive body, I grab the olive bag and choose the material that I need.
Have fun!
I’ll second the Al Beatty pegboard system and add…that closet door he is talking about [or any other door] can be used to hang pegboard on…use whatever side you want or both…I put pegboard on the inside of cabinet doors too…Lowes has a white plastic pegboard that just looks a little nicer…
Don’t forget to check out the Sponsors - Oasis in particular. They make some great accessories to help get you organized.
Let me know when you figure that one out. I have been working on that for 40 years and I’m still trying to get organized. I have a room full of materials, now I’m going to build a bigger room.
CountyMounty;
Sterlite make some nice 3 drawer storage boxs in 3 sizes. Check out your local Dollar store.
By the way. Welcome aboard!!
Do I ever agree with that…it’s easy to be organized if you have enough space…but actually much more necessary to be organized if you don’t have much space… :twisted:
I’d like to know where you are setup—In a basement with lots of room, a special tying room where everything can be left as is between tying or on the kitchen table?
I built a house 8 years ago with a large room just for tying,rod building and other hobbies. I have a large table, TV and three 8 foot long shelves to the ceiling with marked shoe boxes. All my surplus material in large plastic tubs in the garage with moth crystals. BILL
Thanks for all the input! I guess I’ll try out “my own thing”. This ought to be interesting!
It’s really quite easy. Find room, remove all contents, move in flytying materials, tools, desk, and lighting. Bang you’re done.
Ladyfisher, that looks like my tying table. lol.
I have almost no room for fly tying so I had to come up with something I could move around but would organize my supplies with a sufficient amount of room. I found this at Lowe’s for about $50. It has worked great for me and looks kinda nice. Any type of machinists tool box like this would work. This one is bigger than it looks, about 28 inches across.Although I must admit, this is mostly for tools and small items. I do have many other boxes and containers full of stuff. I try to keep the generic stuff, (materials I use with most all of my flies) in this box. Although, if you’re just starting out, this may be good for you. It also sits very nicely on a desk as extra drawers once your materials overflow! Hope this helps.
:twisted: And you STILL won’t have enough room!
Bill :twisted: :twisted:
Welcome to the madness!
Yes I Really Need That
Once you start to tie you’ll never be organized. You’ll have material all over your desk. I just cleaned mine off this morning. I tied a little today and it looks just as bad.
Warm Water Fly Fisher
Me too! I’m just a disorganized tyer…BUT…that’s different than having your materials organized
Hi, first time posting here, but I just gotta tell ya what I have been doing…I maintain an equitable and understanding relationship with my wife. I just have fun building my personal space, collecting stuff and tying up my monstrosities. Sometimes they actually catch fish! :lol:
Been a few years and I still can’t find anything if I clean the bench.