How is your fly box coming for 2011?

[mike_richardson]

This is mine so far.

The top is size 14 beadhead nymphs of BHPT, BHHE, BH grey squirrel nymphs, and bh caddis larva the next row down will be filled with size 16 beadheads and next row down will be the size 18 bead heads. i will be filling the open area with dries and wooly buggers. I find the marabou jigs work pretty well in winter and this is the first year i ever tied/fished with them. Notice the "junk" waxworm and rubber egg flies. i plan to use those as attractors for my nymph droppers.

i will also be adding some prince and copper john nymphs as well as more SJW in brown and pink. Once the box is filled up i will be tying some non beadhead nymphs for summer time. Any suggestions?

This years method will be keeping 8 of each fly in the box and a decent inventory. I dont like having to mess around and tie flies during the season.

 

[dryflyguy]

I would get a compartmented fly box for dries. Wont' have to worry about the hackle getting V-ed, or distorted

 

[jayL]

Looks about as good as it did last spring. There's no season for tying. It's a never-ending chore, which I apparently enjoy.

 

[bam]

I keep four boxes. One with streamers, one with nymphs and one with dries. The fourth, I fill with common nymphs dries and streamers. I keep it stashed in the back should I lose one to the water while I'm out. It's also nice box to throw in a pocket for a quick trip.

 

[gfen]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of how to get rid of all the junk I feel the need to carry and pare it down.

I'm down to a wee little streamer box, and a box for things under the water and on top.

I'd like to reach wee little streamers and everything else. I'd also like to figure out how to cram it all into this tiny little lanyard box I've got.

 

[mike_richardson]

i switched to using a hunting fanny pack. The pouch holds my box leader and weights. Side pouches for gloves, indicators, gerber, and snacks. I was tired of wearing a vest because i had a tendency to fill every pocket. I figured to keep the inventory in a multicompatment tackle box in the car and carry my everything box.

Good idea about the dry flies i will keep that in mind. I just hate tying dries. I can tie all sizes but they try my patients and i enjoy nymphing better but every once in a while it is fun to see one come up on a dry. I dont catch as big of fish on Dry flies, maybe because when i see the big boys rise i about fall in the creek with excitment and WIFF!!

 

[goodfortune]

Before I could tie a decent Catskill or Parachute dry fly, I tied a lot of sparkle-duns and CDC Loop-wing Emergers. Both are as easy to tie and are quite effective.

Most of the sparkle-duns I tie have either a tan body/tan antron shuck, or an olive body/gray antron shuck; sizes #14 through #18. Standard dry fly hooks will do.

I tie my CDC loopwing emergers in same color combos as the sparkle-duns; sizes #16 through #22. I put gray CDC wings on both color combos. Be sure to use light wire curved hooks (ie TMC 2487 or equiv.) to help them float better.

Don't forget to add some foam beetles (#12-#18) to your box. They are also really easy to tie, and are one of the most effective dry fly patterns around.

Keep working on your dry fly skills! Hope that helps. :-D

mike_richardson wrote:
...I just hate tying dries. I can tie all sizes but they try my patients and i enjoy nymphing better but every once in a while it is fun to see one come up on a dry. I dont catch as big of fish on Dry flies, maybe because when i see the big boys rise i about fall in the creek with excitment and WIFF!!

 

[RonB]

My fly boxes are bulk boxes right now. I have been off of work since beginning of November so have had plenty of time to replenish boxes.....Reallyu tied a lot of stuff I haven't really used before, but want to give a try.

 

[mike_richardson]

i tie size 16 and bigger dries pretty well but when you get to the 18-22 range it gets annoying. I dont have small enough hackle pliers and it agitates me to no end. I like to tie dark hendrickson. They are probably my favorite dry to tie. The duck flank wings are easy. I want to get better at bwos and blue duns for the early season and spring creek. I dont use too many midges but i think i need to start from reading up on their success.

 

[David]

I would love to pare down, but never have been able do it.

I've got 3 boxes for mayfly dries (one for lighter colored, one for darker colored - pretty scientific organization, huh? - and BWO's get their own box.
1 larger box for all stages of caddis, stones, and cranes
1 box for midges
1 box for nymphs, cress bugs, shrimp, etc.
1 box for emergers
1 box for terrestrials
1 box for streamers & wets
1 box for bass / salt / toothy streamers
1 box for poppers
2 boxes for eggs (used during steelhead season 1 w/ small eggs, 1 with large)
1 box for small stream flies (so I can travel light somewhere!)

I rarely tie the same fly twice, so I have difficulty tying X number of a certain size or pattern because I'm a tweeker at the vice. And I enjoy having the minor adjustments on the stream to fit the different conditions (ie comparaduns with varying amounts of hair to fish from flat water to heavy riffles.)

 

[mike_richardson]

I like to sit down and put out (1) pheasant tail feather, my pack of peacock hearl, a littl tine wire, beadheads, and hooks and go to town. buy a 25 pack of hooks, beadheads and do them all right there. easier, less waste, quick clean up. less likely to lose stuff.

 

[pcray1231]

After good preparation last year, and a light fishing year (by my standards), I'm already in pretty good shape. A few more PT's and Hare's Ears and I'll be set.

Of course, I haven't been doing that, I've been experimenting with big ole streamers, which I have no room for in my box. I'm never on task....

 

[jdaddy]

mike_richardson wrote:
I like to sit down and put out (1) pheasant tail feather, my pack of peacock hearl, a littl tine wire, beadheads, and hooks and go to town. buy a 25 pack of hooks, beadheads and do them all right there. easier, less waste, quick clean up. less likely to lose stuff.

I think that is the way most commercial/production tiers approach it. Usually take me a dozen of any given pattern before I get my proportions right and everything.

 

[mike_richardson]

i do notice that when im halfway through the flies start to look better. How ever i dont get a lot of time to tie so when i do tie i try to knock out a bunch of the same fly. Buow that i can tie at lunch break,Look out. I can get about 6 of the easy flies out per day so that 30 flies a week, then roughly 3.5 months til the opener so about 14 weeks so 420 flies should last a while. LOL just kidding but i see you point j daddy. Once you get in the groove on a particular fly it helps a lot.

I take more time when my first day stash gets low. I know that i will not be able to get away with as much after the stockies "wise" up. Lets be honest, i have had trout "ruin" a nymph by having some of the quills flick out of a pheasant tail and kept using it and still caught fish in the early season. Once you get past the middle of june it gets tougher.

 

[Jeremi]

I filled 4 large stock boxes a few winters ago. Nymphs, streamers, subsurface bass, bass topwaters, glo bugs, steelhead flies. Plus filled my fishing boxes. Tied a dozen of each. Thousands of flies! Infestation!!! But still tye new patterns all the time. I... cant... stop. I have a problem!

 

[osprey]

you would think that as time went on a fly tier would become more organized? Alas........constant state of flux.......near chaos but not quite , right at the edge. At least 10 boxes in my vest which weighs more than i do and i couldn't tell you what's in any one of them but i can go right to what i need without failure......somedays.......others i search every box and then remember "the new ones" are in a film container of which there are also 10. If i take time to organize things i'll miss something. Seriously though i'll be here all week don't forget to tip your waiting staff. BADABING rim shot , rim shot , symbal , rim shot............ All my boxes are compartment boxes , which i bought to keep from crushing the hackles on dry flies , which , subsequently , I stuffed so full of flies that when i pull out a selection it looks like i'm holding a duck. A clean automobile is the product of a sick mind.

 

[slimyrock]

Being a newbie Ive been spending some time ripping apart some of the ties that I tied last year and had the nerve to carry around in my fly boxes. What a difference a year makes!

 

[troutbumm]

It sounds like we all have the same issues. I thought through theist year and realized that unless a hatch is coming off, I tend to use the same 5 flies all the time. Throw in some terrestrials in late summer and it can get pared down. I moved to a lanyard and fanny pack in warm weather. I'm now keeping my inventory in compartment boxes and putting less on me as I fish. I have an ancient streamer wallet that holds a few wooly buggers and a bunch of nymphs. One box of drys and I'm good to go. I replenish these between trips, but they never get to low regardless. I add different flies and replace as the season changes. It seems to be working: I'm catching plenty of fish and the load less

 

[sundrunk]

"How is your fly box for coming for 2011?"


Moth balled for warmer days.

 

[FrequentTyer]

My problem is that I keep experimenting with new patterns and joining swaps. The standard stuff I tie goes out in the mail and and I get a bunch of new stuff back that I want to try and replicate. So I wind up with a much greater variety than I really need. I enjoy working on the new or more challenging patterns, but like others have mentioned, I have about 5 flys that I use all the time. I usually wind up tying those up a dozen at a time, often on a Friday night before fishing the next day. Maybe I'll take a month during the winter and just build up a stock of those go-to patterns.
Mike.