Flies - Organizing and Storing

[CaptainHook]

Well, I have now accumulated a bunch of flies over the last two years. Add those to ones from my one-year of fly fishing back in the 80's and I guess I've got over 500. And, I don't have the slightest idea how best to organize them and why kind of fly boxes to use.

It was easy when I only had a couple dozen back about 85' and knew what all of them were and what size. Last year I bought about 12 dozen more based on nothing more than what I could learn online. I had not yet found this site. Then tragedy struck. Well, a mild tragedy in the form of one cat and 12 open boxes of flies. I had them open on my workbench in the basement when I got called upstairs.

Hours later, I found that our cat had investigated the flies and had them batted all over the place with many of them now out of the boxes which meant I no longer knew what was what. (The cat, by the way, survived with no visible flies impaled in it's fur.) But, thanks to him I'm still trying to identify some of them.

Last week, I bought some of each of the flies recommended on this forum in different sizes. By the time I was done, I had invested more money that what my first car cost in 1967. (It was a 60' Corvair, BTW)

Happily, the new flies are in individual little plastic tubs appropriately marked by name and size. But, I can't keep them in the tubs and fish. Happily, I have at least a half-dozen fly boxes that I either bought or were given to me at Christmas by my wife after announcing this would be the year I get serious about fishing. But, the boxes are also different types and sizes. Some are aluminum and some plastic. They have an assortment of solid foam, cut-out foam, raised-ridge foam, aluminum hooks, small boxes within the box with pop-up plastic lids, something called micro-slit - and my favorite name, the Tacky Fly Box.

It's mind boggling!

So, I'm looking for some tips on how to organize and store. And, how to do it considering I have a learning curve in respect to identification. Should I just put into a box what I think I'll need on that particular outing? Or, do I sort flies of the same hatch time into boxes and then keep streamers and terrestrials in another box(es)? Yep, I'm pretty lost. But, I have faith the answer(s) that will soon allow me to be a fly fisherman instead of a fly organizer will be found here.

Thank you.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I organize my flies into separate bulk storage of nymphs, wets, dries, and streamers. I then use a "working" box to house what I expect to see on the stream that outing (based on previous experience).

I would recommend finding a hatch chart for your area, and cross referencing your flies (from a google search or book) if you don't know the exact fly. Then you'll know what to carry with you when. If you see flies hatching, catch one and match it up to the flies in your box.

 

[Fishidiot]

You can organize and store your flies anyway that works for you.

To get started, separate the flies as best as you can determine by their style (nymphs, dries, streamers etc). if you're not sure, just include patterns with other ones that resemble each other. With time, you will get a feel for where certain flies are located and which ones you use frequently and which you use rarely. This takes time to figure out. But don't over think it - it's not critical how you store flies.

I carry a lot of flies and generally keep them separated by style. I have a chest fly box with three sections holding:

-Nymphs, wet flies
-Dries
-Eggs, San Juan Worms, greenweenies, split shot sinkers ("Junk flies") etc.

I have individual separate boxes with:

-Terrestrials
-Streamers
-Midges
-Sculpins
-Scuds and cress bugs

I have additional separate boxes for:
-Bass and WW fish
-Musky flies

(This doesn't even cover saltwater patterns!)

One certainly doesn't need to carry as many flies as I do. Many of the boxes I have listed include overlapping categories. The trout stuff is always in my vest or on my chest. The other boxes I only carry when bass or muskie fishing.

 

[duckfoot]

I keep a couple Plano 3700s (13" x 9" x 2") that, with enough dividers, separate what I need.

I tie my own anyway, and I only tie what I need for a particular day. I'm a minimalist, so I only carry a couple dozen (usually four of everything).

 

[poopdeck]

I just received the cabelas fly fishing catalog. It has 10 pages filled with flies. Possibly you can identify your flies through that.

I can't help you with storing 500 flies. I simply carry altoid tins of flies. I have the tins separated for nymphs, drys, buggers, midges, terrestrials, and misc. things like weenies, eggs and such. I probably do not carry more then 30 flies on a trip

 

[jeremymcon]

I also keep a few different boxes for the various types of flies. Nymph/emerger box, separated into tungsten bead nymphs in one side, brass bead/unweighted on the other side. Also gave a "junk" fly box with eggs, San Juan worms, etc, a dry fly box, a streamer box, and a terrestrial box. I keep nymphs and streamers in foam boxes - nymphs in those slit foam boxes. Dry flies I keep in compartment boxes so that the hackle doesn't get flattened.

Good luck with 500 flies! Lol. I suggest keeping some of those flies in storage somewhere and putting a few of each pattern that you think you'll use into some boxes. The only flies I ever have a whole dozen of are the ones I fish all the time. Pheasant tails, caddis larvae, Hares ears, elk hair caddis, and Adams.

 

[CaptainHook]

BrookieChaser wrote:
I organize my flies into separate bulk storage of nymphs, wets, dries, and streamers. I then use a "working" box to house what I expect to see on the stream that outing (based on previous experience).

I would recommend finding a hatch chart for your area, and cross referencing your flies (from a google search or book) if you don't know the exact fly. Then you'll know what to carry with you when. If you see flies hatching, catch one and match it up to the flies in your box.

Great ideas. First time I heard the term "working box." It makes perfect sense. I've seen a number of hatch chart lists. What I'd really like is a hatch chart list that shows photos of both the insect and some matching patterns. Does that exist? Thank you.

 

[CaptainHook]

Fishidiot wrote:
You can organize and store your flies anyway that works for you.

To get started, separate the flies as best as you can determine by their style (nymphs, dries, streamers etc). if you're not sure, just include patterns with other ones that resemble each other. With time, you will get a feel for where certain flies are located and which ones you use frequently and which you use rarely. This takes time to figure out. But don't over think it - it's not critical how you store flies.

I carry a lot of flies and generally keep them separated by style. I have a chest fly box with three sections holding:

-Nymphs, wet flies
-Dries
-Eggs, San Juan Worms, greenweenies, split shot sinkers ("Junk flies") etc.

I have individual separate boxes with:

-Terrestrials
-Streamers
-Midges
-Sculpins
-Scuds and cress bugs

I have additional separate boxes for:
-Bass and WW fish
-Musky flies

(This doesn't even cover saltwater patterns!)

One certainly doesn't need to carry as many flies as I do. Many of the boxes I have listed include overlapping categories. The trout stuff is always in my vest or on my chest. The other boxes I only carry when bass or muskie fishing.

I have some of them already separated that way. The streamers and terrestrials are easy as are the large flies for bass and musky. I'm just learning about the small guys.

Green weenies are new to me. I'll look them up. Only one I know of (and old Pittsburgh Pirate fans will remember) is the one that Bob Prince invented back in the 60's. It rattled and you shook it at opposing players as a jinx.

 

[CaptainHook]

poopdeck wrote:
I just received the cabelas fly fishing catalog. It has 10 pages filled with flies. Possibly you can identify your flies through that.

I can't help you with storing 500 flies. I simply carry altoid tins of flies. I have the tins separated for nymphs, drys, buggers, midges, terrestrials, and misc. things like weenies, eggs and such. I probably do not carry more then 30 flies on a trip

I'm not on their fly fishing list but I will be now. Thanks for the tip. Many of the flies I have now are duplicates in three hook sizes. Which makes me wonder, what determines which size hook/fly you use on a particular day. Does clearer water = smaller fly. Or, is a lot of that decision based on matching the size of the hatch?

 

[CaptainHook]

duckfoot wrote:
I keep a couple Plano 3700s (13" x 9" x 2") that, with enough dividers, separate what I need.

I tie my own anyway, and I only tie what I need for a particular day. I'm a minimalist, so I only carry a couple dozen (usually four of everything).

Thanks for the Plano model number. That kind of information takes away a lot of the guessing, buying and re-buying.

 

[CaptainHook]

jeremymcon wrote:
Good luck with 500 flies! Lol. I suggest keeping some of those flies in storage somewhere and putting a few of each pattern that you think you'll use into some boxes. The only flies I ever have a whole dozen of are the ones I fish all the time. Pheasant tails, caddis larvae, Hares ears, elk hair caddis, and Adams.

Thankfully, the 500 consist of at least a half-dozen of each type and a dozen of ones I think I'll use a lot. For example, I probably have 6 dozen of Adams in different sizes because that's what I used to catch my first trout on a fly.

 

[PAgeologist]

For bulk storage, I would get some large compartmented boxes. These are relatively cheap and easy to find. Label the lid with each fly type. If you write directly on the lid, Scotch tape over it, so the sharpie cant rub off. You can get some small compartment boxes of various sorts to fish with and label them as well for easy fly id.

 

[Millsertime]

When I first started FF and was obviously overwhelmed with the multiple different types of flies, I labeled each fly in a compartment style fly box. I used a hatch chart and if it said BWO's mid day for the day I was going to fish, I'd tie on a BWO but I only knew it was a BWO b/c it was labeled and I only fished it because the hatch chart said to.

Soon you will know what your staple flies are by name and sight and soon thereafter, you'll likely care less of names and you'll simply see what's hatching, snag a sample, and try to find a fly in your box that matches shape, color, and style of the collected sample.

Good luck. It all comes with time...Relax and enjoy the learning b/c it never stops!

 

[Love2fish]

Hook size is determined by the size of the natural for the most part. You can't tie or fish an accurate nymph for say a BWO on a size 10 when the naturals are the size of one tied on an 18. Best bet learning is to flip a few rocks and see how big they are and match the size to what's in your box, than look for color. When I first started I was shocked at how small the hatch charts said since my only experience with trout flies was the cheap "kits" that had nothing smaller than a 14.

 

[Swattie87]

This is all personal preference, 100% up to you and what works for you. You’ll probably evolve through several different systems until you find a method that best suits you, and the types of fishing you do.

I don’t like carrying a ton of fly boxes. At first this isn’t an issue as you can fit everything into one fly box. As your interest in FFing grows, so does your fly collection though, and before long I had accumulated 4+ boxes of flies. At first I had things organized by fly type…dries/nymphs/terrestrials/streamers…one box for each. Problem with this I found is that for pretty much any stream conditions except blown out chocolate milk I had to carry at least two of these boxes, if not 3 or 4. After fishing and getting some more experience, I found that I predominantly used certain techniques on certain types of streams and realized that for me (not wanting to carry more than one box at a time) it made the most sense to organize my flies by the type of stream I was fishing (as opposed to the type of fly), and the techniques that most frequently worked for kind of stream. Since then I’ve landed on and have been using the following system:

I have 4 fly boxes:

Small Steam/Gems – Small Box (Small Buggers, Attractor Dries, a few Terrestrials, a few Attractor Nymphs)

General Trout – Medium Box (Little bit of everything, this box is a mess – when I don’t know what to encounter, this is what I take – I probably use this box the least of the of the four.)

Limestone/Hatch Matcher – Medium Box (Mainly the various hatch stages of the hatches common on the big streams and limestoners…BWO’s, Sulphurs, MB’s, GD’s, SD’s, etc. Also a good bit of Scuds and Terrestrials.)

Warmwater – Large Box (Mostly Streamers for Smallies, Poppers, a few big Attractor Dries, Whiteflies)

In each of the above boxes I also carry a few standard issue flies that are commonly used wherever you go…Buggers, Adams, EHC, Pheasant Tail nymphs. I have a large compartment Plano that I keep my bulk reserves of maybe two dozen or so patterns I use most often, and I replenish the above 4 boxes from that between outings. With this system I can pretty confidently carry one fly box per outing and know I’m probably 90%+ covered. If I can’t catch fish with the flies I have on hand, it’s definitely the angler, and not the fly selection. Part of this process for me was developing confidence in certain flies that worked in certain conditions, and paring down my boxes based on that.

 

[CaptainHook]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions! I'm going to go find some compartment boxes and start from there. And, then I'll sort into a few fly boxes. I saw a nice compartment box at the Newbie Jam fly tying room that was clear plastic. I should have asked where he got it. Mostly, I have found the ones that are milky white. I'm headed out to a couple stores today and there is a craft store in that shopping plaza. They might have some clear compartment boxes.

 

[duckfoot]

PAgeologist wrote:
For bulk storage, I would get some large compartmented boxes. These are relatively cheap and easy to find. Label the lid with each fly type. If you write directly on the lid, Scotch tape over it, so the sharpie cant rub off. You can get some small compartment boxes of various sorts to fish with and label them as well for easy fly id.

Exactly what I've done.