Organization

[Larry L]

I'm not real bright and sometimes pretty damn dim. Yesterday produced a
very dull moment. I looked in my many fly boxes and started to organize,
throw out the tattered, group my type, etc. Soon I got frustrated and in a
really dumb move removed ALL my flies from boxes and put them in a big bowl
.... probably 800? in my wife's mixing bowl. The "thought" was to examine
each, steam bent hackles, discard failed experments and end up with
organized fly boxes to be proud of.

Reality is ... a plan or pattern for real organization is escaping me.
Now I almost always fish "hatches" and/ or try to match real food forms, so
I figured "group by species imitated" was the plan. But, very quickly it
becomes obvious that the plan has lots of weaknesses .... one simple one is
patterns that cover several species ( PT nymph, for instance ) but which I
don't want to carry in large quanity ... there are other weak spots in a
"species" plan ... Renegades and the other few attractors I use, etc.

Do any of you have well organized fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-)
If so, what plan does that organization follow?

Larry ( sitting in front of big bowl of steel, feather and fur .... almost
ready to throw it all out and start over ... almost )

[Mike Connor]

"Larry L" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
<SNIP>
> Do any of you have well organized fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-) If
> so, what plan does that organization follow?
>

Mine are pretty well organised. I try to group flies according to
techniques and usage, and then sub-group these as required.

Soft hackles downstream
Soft hackles upstream
Soft hackles weighted
Standard wets
Nymphs
Weighted nymphs
Streamers,
Weighted streamers
and so on.

Nowadays I only have flies in my "active" boxes I know I will use, and how I
can use them. This reduces clutter. Grouping according to species imitated
is too complex. One must of course know what species are imitated by which
flies, but one may carry a list if necessary.

TL
MC

[Wayne Knight]

"Larry L" > wrote in message
...
>
> Larry ( sitting in front of big bowl of steel, feather and fur .... almost
> ready to throw it all out and start over ... almost )

Been there, wanted to do that lots of time.

I start the season with

1 box with Caddis imitations (nymphs, and dries, if I want to go emerging, i
trim an ehc)
1 box with bwo imitations (nymphs, emergers, dries (mostly parachutes)
1 box of attractors (humpy's, adams, wulffs,)
1 box of nymphs (pt's, grhe, etc)
1 box of drakes/sulfurs parachutes
1 box of general dries (hendrickson's, green drakes, quills, etc)
1 streamer box
in reserve I have a box of big michigan flies, and a box of warm water/mouse
type patterns

It's during the season that I get them screwed up and grab the closest box
when changing flies. :(

[Wolfgang]

"Larry L" > wrote in message
...

> ...you have well organized fly boxes?....

Mph....mph......hee, hee, hee....ha ha.....HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Wolfgang
for whom "organization" means something like keeping the flies separated
from the spices, the rats, the cutlery, the books, the dog and the
laundry.......and who hasn't quite got the hang of it yet. :(

[riverman]

Larry L wrote:
>
> Do any of you have well organized fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-)
> If so, what plan does that organization follow?
>

Hee hee. My 'organization' is more like the guy with stacks of paper
all over his office, and he happens to know precisely what is in each
stack, althogh there's no rhyme or reason to his system that his wife
can see.

However, in the most broad strokes, I have three primary boxes: one for
dries, one for streamers, one for nymphs. I keep the flies grouped
within each box according to dominant feature: among the dries, they
are sorted by those with or without tails or upright wings, by color,
and then by size. Among the nymphs, they are sorted mostly by color,
then by size. The streamers are sorted mostly by size, and those with
weighted eyes. Attractors are kept with whatever fly they most
resemble, and terrestrials are kept in a bunch within the nymph box.

I also tend to have little sections of each box for special patterns:
since I like fishing dries, in the dry box there is a section where I
have the patterns replicating the lifecycle of a caddis and a mayfly.
Just in case I meet a hatch, I have some representative flies in one
place.

Ultra-tiny flies (#22 and up) are in one place in the nymph box. One
very small place...

Other than that, I also carry a box of 'misfits' that could go
anywhere. Or nowhere. Or whatever.

But even with this stupendous system, I regularly come across a fly
that I thought I lost years ago, or that I have no idea where the hell
it came from. And I regularly spend too much time looking for a
particular fly that I know damn well that I have in there somewhere....
This entire 'sorting flies' problem has inspired me to aspire to
reduce my selection to about 10 flies.

--riverman

[rw]

riverman wrote:
> Larry L wrote:
>
>>Do any of you have well organized fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-)
>>If so, what plan does that organization follow?
>>
>
>
> Hee hee. My 'organization' is more like the guy with stacks of paper
> all over his office, and he happens to know precisely what is in each
> stack, althogh there's no rhyme or reason to his system that his wife
> can see.

For trout fishing, I have a nymph box (which also includes a variety of
streamers and lake-fishing patterns), a generic "dry" box (mostly
mayflies), a caddis box (both wet and dry), a terrestrial box (all
dries), and a midge box (mostly wet, some dry). Depending on where I'm
going fishing, I'll fill another small box with specific patterns.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

[Bob Patton]

"Larry L" > wrote in message
...
> //set of ROFF commonalities snipped//> Do any of you have well organized
> fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-) If so, what plan does that
> organization follow?
>
> Larry ( sitting in front of big bowl of steel, feather and fur .... almost
> ready to throw it all out and start over ... almost )

I organize my flies into boxes for dries, nymphs, and streamers/big stuff.
And when I'm planning a trip I put the flies I think I'll want for that trip
into a single box.

Then I go to the stream and find that I left that last box at home.

Bob

[Bill McKee]

"Bob Patton" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Larry L" > wrote in message
> ...
>> //set of ROFF commonalities snipped//> Do any of you have well organized
>> fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-) If so, what plan does that
>> organization follow?
>>
>> Larry ( sitting in front of big bowl of steel, feather and fur ....
>> almost ready to throw it all out and start over ... almost )
>
> I organize my flies into boxes for dries, nymphs, and streamers/big stuff.
> And when I'm planning a trip I put the flies I think I'll want for that
> trip into a single box.
>
> Then I go to the stream and find that I left that last box at home.
>
> Bob
>

I bought a new fly box, as I could not find my main one a couple of trips
back. So is easy to organize a few flys. So I am organized.
Unfortunately, the other fly box showed up in the closet of the camper,
where I had already looked, so now too many choices this weekend when we go
to June Lake Loop.

[bruiser]

"I bought a new fly box, as I could not find my main one a couple of
trips
back. So is easy to organize a few flys. So I am organized.
Unfortunately, the other fly box showed up in the closet of the camper,

where I had already looked, so now too many choices this weekend when
we go
to June Lake Loop"

It's noon somewhere ; -)~

bruce h

[Cyli]

On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 18:39:57 GMT, "Larry L"
> wrote:



>Do any of you have well organized fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-)
>If so, what plan does that organization follow?

No. I have almost all my flys in boxes, but figuring out which box
before I go to just grabbing an attractive fly that's of a size I can
tie on and then see on the stream that's the problem.

When I'll be fishing away from the bank and don't want to carry a
backpack, I select several flys and put them on my hat and then use
from that small selection. Which is often, as those who've fished
with me can tell you, odd.
>
>Larry ( sitting in front of big bowl of steel, feather and fur .... almost
>ready to throw it all out and start over ... almost )
>
Don't. You'll really really regret it by, at most, the third time you
go fishing and want that particular fly (which one doesn't matter) and
remember that it's now one with rest of the stuff in the local dump.

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: (strip the .invalid to email)

[Peter Charles]

On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 18:39:57 GMT, "Larry L"
> wrote:

>I'm not real bright and sometimes pretty damn dim. Yesterday produced a
>very dull moment. I looked in my many fly boxes and started to organize,
>throw out the tattered, group my type, etc. Soon I got frustrated and in a
>really dumb move removed ALL my flies from boxes and put them in a big bowl
>... probably 800? in my wife's mixing bowl. The "thought" was to examine
>each, steam bent hackles, discard failed experments and end up with
>organized fly boxes to be proud of.

Larry, Larry, Larry -- whatever were you thinking? (head shaking in
amazment by one who's never done anything *that* dumb in his life --
nosireebob, never -- well maybe occasionally . . .)

>
>Reality is ... a plan or pattern for real organization is escaping me.
>Now I almost always fish "hatches" and/ or try to match real food forms, so
>I figured "group by species imitated" was the plan. But, very quickly it
>becomes obvious that the plan has lots of weaknesses .... one simple one is
>patterns that cover several species ( PT nymph, for instance ) but which I
>don't want to carry in large quanity ... there are other weak spots in a
>"species" plan ... Renegades and the other few attractors I use, etc.
>
>Do any of you have well organized fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-)
>If so, what plan does that organization follow?
>
>Larry ( sitting in front of big bowl of steel, feather and fur .... almost
>ready to throw it all out and start over ... almost )
>

Before you throw them out, stick 'em all in a big box and I'll send
you a mailing address.

OK, here's the foolproof, absolutely the best fly organizational
method in the whole wide world (or at least in Hagersville).

Made the decision that there are trout flies and then there are all
the rest.

One big Plano bag full of big, clear plastic boxes holding pike, bass,
and sal****er flies -- that takes care of a big swath right there.

A bunch of fly boxes hold steelhead flies -- they're good to go.

Now the trout stuff.

Two divisions, mayfly and caddis.

Mayfly boxes are roughly organized spring/summer/fall hatches and also
with a size component -- fall hatches tend to need small flies. No
point taking out the Hendricksons in the fall.

My caddis flies are based on just four species, Hydropsyche,
Rhyacophilia, Chematopsyche are the biggies, plus a few Brachycentrus
for spring. This division generally lets me take just the boxes for
the time of year and the water I'm fishing. For example, no point
taking many Hydropsyche if I'm fishing mainly flat water as they're
riffle dewellers. The Rhyacophilia (GRW) need cold and well
oxygenated water so forget them for the warmer, flatter waters but
they're the only thing in the vest for those small, high gradient
streams. The first three hatch most of the trout season so by
concentrating on them, I cover most of the season with just a few
types and sizes of caddis flies.

Finally, a few boxes of streamers that get shared between trout,
smallmouth, and steelhead.

Peter

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[FlyCaughtInTree]

I am liking this Wolfgang fellow. He seems like the kind of flyfisher
and tyer that is me. Organizing your fly box is frustrating at best,
and, at worst, damn near impossible. Wayno has the right idea: keep
'em as best you can, but count on a fubar when you get out in the
stream. Besides, if you tie your own, you probably violate all the
rules of the patterns you're trying to imitate; I know I do out of
necessity and lack of proper materials.
Eight hundred flies?!!?!?!? A man couldn't possibly use all of those,
unless....
This reminds me of a joke that I think the late Don Adams told, about a
man who sets up on the first tee at a golf course, pulls out a new
ball, and whacks it into the bush. Pulls out another new ball, knocks
it over the road. Pulls out another new ball, sinks it in the lake. A
spectator says, "If you're that bad, why don't you use an old ball?"
He says, "I've never had one."

TL
SH

[Tim J.]

FlyCaughtInTree wrote:
> I am liking this Wolfgang fellow.

Oh, crap. That's going to go RIGHT to his head! ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
---------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

[Wolfgang]

"Tim J." > wrote in message
...
> FlyCaughtInTree wrote:
>> I am liking this Wolfgang fellow.
>
> Oh, crap. That's going to go RIGHT to his head! ;-)

I've been trying to frame a suitable response all day. Under the
circumstances, I'm sure you understand how difficult it is to convey my deep
(if not to say downright heroic) humility, while simultaneously
acknowledging Mr. FCIT's commendable insight and remarkably cultured tastes.
It's a ****in' conundrum! :(

Wolfgang
on the other hand, the feckless lout will doubtless live long enough to
repent of such inexcusable magnanimity. :)

[JR]

Larry L wrote:

> Do any of you have well organized fly boxes? ( honesty is a virtue :-)
> If so, what plan does that organization follow?

I've narrowed my fly boxes (because I like a shorty vest with few
pockets, fish pretty much the same waters throughout the year, and am a
"minimalist" by nature) down to four for trout --

one for nymphs,
one for dries,
one for large flies (both wet and dry),
and one for midges (wet and dry), terrestrials and odds and ends.

http://tinyurl.com/c8z44

If I'm fishing a new water I don't know well, I add another small box to
the pocket with the midge box.

For steelhead, I use just one box. This is loaded with summer flies
(you can tell I'm a swinger :D)

http://tinyurl.com/9ypml

In winter I just fill it with different flies.

- JR