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Post 01 Dec 2022, 21:37 • #1 
Sport
Joined: 09/06/21
Posts: 43
Location: Wa
Hi all,
I am a relative beginner to fly fishing and have been "collecting" flies as I see nice (quality) flies at a bargain.
It has worked out pretty well because I have 12 - 1500 flies. This includes wet, dry, and streamers in
a multitude of varieties. It has been on my mind to either get the help of a fellow FR'er for direct support
in going through everything and helping and advising me on how to identify, sort and group it all for easy
reference and use. Or, reach out to see how you all would recommend I approach this from the best and
most advisable recommendations. Im looking forward to logical and practical approaches from experience.
Thanks

Canton


Last edited by Crustyrusty on 02 Dec 2022, 13:01, edited 2 times in total.

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Post 02 Dec 2022, 00:34 • #2 
Master Guide
Joined: 01/04/18
Posts: 397
Location: Belair Maryland/Swanton Maryland
Hey Canton ,
I just throw it all into some random cheap boxes that get given to me and go fishing..

Streamer boxes , dry box, wets,lots of nymph boxes , midge box, Bass boxes .
I’m Better organized than I used to be lol :lol
Here’s what I take fishing on a weekly basis


If you wanted to get “orginizized” lol
I could hook you up with a spare Jam-PAC
Box from my home fly shop SRO.




I could give those Daiwas that are making too much noise for you
a good home
Just saying .. hint hint lol ;) :P
Good times!
Scotto


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Post 02 Dec 2022, 00:51 • #3 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 09/18/09
Posts: 5561
Location: Relocated to the Drought Stricken West.
I sort in a funny way.

The first division is warm water vs cold water (or maybe just really big and really small)

Poppers, Sliders and large floating bass flies are one box (basically a boat box, but it's a scrapbook sterilte container with foam bolted into the top and bottom)

Streamers for Warm Water are another Box

Streamers for cold water are a third box

Now to the trout flies. I separate them by the destination. then by size
* south central PA (has a bit of focus on spring creeks)
* Central PA, North Central up to the Catskills
* Brook Trout for Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge
* Western patterns (hoppers, stimulators, EHC, Para Adams)
for the western I don't sort out as much because you can go from big water to high gradient small water depending on temperature, time of day and whim.

For nymphs I am less picky and just sort by size.

These get all muddled up and put in different boxes to take on trips, but it does give me a bit of organization.

And I am trying to keep my Hopper, EHC, Para Adams, Royal Wulf, Pheasant Tail and zebra midge boxes full (at least keep tying to the point that I have a few of each size I am likely to use.


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Post 02 Dec 2022, 11:12 • #4 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
I have a back bedroom in my new house that holds ALL my fishing stuff,tying desk one wall with rod racks.Plus all kinds of accumulated stuff.But i just bring what i think i will need for the day.Got a nice big man purse fishing bag that holds 4 plano boxes .Side pockets for line ,pliers bug spray etc. I can also fit several smaller fly boxes.I now bring a med carbon spinning rod on my day trips for bass that are out of fly range.So i will have senkos and other plastics.I have plano boxes with bobbers jig flies etc for the wife and grand kids.I have tons of crankbaits jig and pig spinner baits mepps spinners crappie baits chin spins mini spinner baits etc.I have probably 30 of these boxes and they are easy to change out and take what i need.I go fishing for more than 1 species ,a main target and whatever else i may encounter.





This always happens,fishing for big bluegills with a 3wt in deep clear water and i get this


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Post 04 Dec 2022, 18:52 • #5 
Sport
Joined: 09/06/21
Posts: 43
Location: Wa
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate all your advise. I kind of have an idea and its similar to what you described
Carlz. Hopefully I can get more info and ideas.

Canton


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Post 26 Apr 2023, 17:45 • #6 
Sport
Joined: 05/17/12
Posts: 34
Location: US-FL
if you have a Joann’s fabric, they have some great 32 compartment plastic boxes I use for storing the flies since I tend to tie 18-24 of a size and pattern. It helps me storage. I use Morell Foam Fly boxes on the stream as they float when I drop them in the water. They have magnetic closures. They come in multiple sizes.

Greg


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Post 26 Apr 2023, 20:27 • #7 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/11/06
Posts: 2516
Location: Nature Coast Florida
Harbor Freight has some good boxes at a reasonable price, especially if they're on sale.


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Post 26 Apr 2023, 22:00 • #8 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/06/17
Posts: 2498
Location: South of Joplin
So, once or twice a year when I'm really bored , I separate dries from wets (wet is any subsurface fly), then I sort by size (how long is the fly, not hook number) the I'm still interested I group the colors of each size together. I use a lot of Altoids tins with sheet magnet stuck in the bottom or strips of foam glued in. A couple of those tins are marked "Today's Hatch" and stay at the tying bench when I tie, the "Today" box gets whatever falls off the vise on a given day be it midges, scuds, streamers, soft hackles or what, they all live together happily until the next time I sort. At the end of the tying session that Today box goes into a vest pocket.

I never ever put a used fly back into any box until it's dried at least overnight. from tippet to fly patch not to box.

It can be handy to have a Altoids box or two full or random mixed flies so that you can fish all day anywhere from a single shirt pocket.


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Post 26 Apr 2023, 23:50 • #9 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 09/18/09
Posts: 5561
Location: Relocated to the Drought Stricken West.
A blast from the past.

My fly boxes are still in a semi ordered state.


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Post 27 Apr 2023, 06:58 • #10 
Guide
Joined: 01/16/08
Posts: 102
Location: Holland, Michigan


Good luck staying organized! My method, which I don’t recommend, is to use a clear storage bag stuffed with fly cups and boxes randomly purchased all over the US. So when I’m in Wisconsin looking for that baetis pattern I bought at Lawson’s on the Henry’s Fork, I know it’s in there, I just have to look through 20 different containers. I caught my wife foolishly discarding this bag, when she bought a new mattress pad, and it’s held up for years. Hope this makes everyone else feel more organized than some.


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Post 28 Apr 2023, 10:36 • #11 
Guide
Joined: 08/21/18
Posts: 168
Location: West Yellowstone and Atlanta
Two observations on points I did not notice in a read through: 1. I almost always take with me to fish a box containing one or more of pretty much any fly i might ever fish for trout so when I find fish eating something i did not anticipate ... maybe i have one. It also means that when i have no idea what else to do i have some para adams, royal wulffs, wooly boogers, rubber legs and zebra midges handy. And usually a random mouse pattern too just for kicks. 2. I fish a lot on western lakes. I have consolidated most of my "lake flies" in a single box. Now that i have focussed on how many hundreds of dollars of flies could be lost if that box went overboard, I am revisiting how to manage these flies. The "what if i lost it" issue can apply to any box containing "too many" flies.


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Post 29 Apr 2023, 23:25 • #12 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/06/17
Posts: 2498
Location: South of Joplin
You'd be amazed at how many flies will fit in the Altoids tin and if it's lost the box didn't cost $30-40, but my flies are pretty cheap; probably cost 15-20 cents each. Not like ready rolled at $3-5 per.
But fly box loss is why I never carry a waterproof box or other floating box when wading, experience has shown me that if the box sinks right away I have a better chance or recovering it than I have if a floating box falls out unobserved and the current carries it away. I recall dropping possibly my first floating box at the edge of a high fast flowing brook and running frantically down the bank after it, I didn't catch it.


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