Greetings!
I just read the thread on “toe tags” and somebody mentioned flies that didn’t do well being shipped in ziploc bags, flies with bushy hackle, and the like. Well, this summer I’ve been shipping many of my flies to Texas (where my boyfriend is working for the summer) and elsewhere, and I’ve found a way that is maybe a little more expensive, but really works for keeping the flies from getting squashed.
If you take a little jewelry box, the kind you get when you buy jewelry from the store, and glue or tape that spun-cotton layer to the bottom of the box, you can stick the hooks into that - then when you turn the box upside down they won’t fall, just be suspended nicely. You put the lid on the box and then it doesn’t matter which way the box gets turned or pressed on in shipping, that space around the flies will be protected.
A little more time consuming, but worth it I think, especially if the flies are ones you are really proud of and put alot of time and effort into.
I’m a visual person, so I’m including a photo to illustrate what I’ve described.
Karli-Rae, that’s a pretty good idea. What a lot of swappers do is send flies in a small tackle box. Plano makes a few that are just right for shipping in a small envelope for just a few bucks. I believe Umpqua has one called an “Oregon-izer” that works perfect as well and has zero gap between compartments for smaller size flies.
i like to use film canisters for several reasons to ship flies, they are plastic so i am recycling , the photo places thank me for taking them off their hands and the cannisters can be labeled , the hackles also do not get crushed.
i think the little box above is OK for sending flies to a friend but i doubt that box would be suitable for sending out a dozen or more flies for a fly swap with all of the flies decked out with toe tags.
There are many good ways to ship flies, but like I always say for swaps, use a suitable container for THAT individual swap. An Altoids tin is fine IF you’re only swapping a dozen tiny dry flies or small nymphs. But no where near big enough for anything else (specially with and real toe-tags.)
The KEY to shipping swap flies is to know what your’e getting back in return. Thats what your box has to accommodate. When you’re in a swap, thats why it’s important to post the pattern and size of what you’re tying. If you don’t know what someone else’s pattern or size is, ask them.
A streamer swap for example could have a range of flies from a #10 Micky Fin barely an inch long to a #4/0 Lefty’s Deceiver 5 or 6 inches long.Your 11 or 12 Mickey’s might fir in the Altoids tin (with a bare minimum toe tag–another important consideration) but the 4/0 Deceiver certainly won’t. However even then some Meister’s might try to pack them in anyway, so what you get back might not be in the best of shape.
Now, if you’re just shipping flies to someone not expecting anything in return then anything sturdy and reasonably crushproof is all you need.
I use these (35 mm) when tying for Cub/Boy Scouts - it’s REMARKABLE how well the scouts and their siblings behave when they know they’ll walk away with a fly!!
