Fly Boxes: What’s your opinion
- This topic has 32 replies, 27 voices, and was last updated Sep 24, 2010 at 10:31 am by
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Tim I like Cliff boxes for wade fishing. I like having the clear plastic so I can see things and I love have the magnet bottom to put smaller flies on. They also have the slit foam which is very nice.
For the boat(s) I have a big Simms boat bag to keep stuff dry so water proof is not that important for me as long as I keep the damn thing zipped! 🙂 Having a bigger box with a clear lids sure makes life easier though.
Joel
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#3 I don’t like the heavy weight of all CF boxes. Their lightweight boxes could easily have a gasket system attached and be made waterproof.
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I have seen the new range… The small one is get a casket…
I’ve owned a lot of fly boxes. I finally broke down and bought a CF box a couple of years ago. I do really like it due mostly to the slit foam design and the large fly capacity. Last year I bought a flambeau blue ribbon fly box. It was much less expensive than the CF box and I actually like it a little better.
http://www.cabelas.com/p-0052575320341a.shtml
Greg
I like the CF boxes; but, like Zach, it would be great to have a deeper one for larger flies. And I still haven’t found a box that really does a great job of accomodating weed guards (both the hook-eye to hook bend variety and the mono post variety). I use Plano boxes for some of my bigger bass flies, which all have weed guards, because of this issue.
My CF Permit-sized box (the green one) does an ok job with smaller saltwater flies with weed guards, but if the box was a little deeper, with taller pieces of split foam to keep the weedguards from crushing, I’d by a happy camper.
Hi Tim,
This is an interesting topic. I thought about it for a few weeks and came up with a few technical points.
1. As you know there are many different consumer types for fly boxes. For example: a)the weekend fisher who needs one or two boxes for store-purchased flies, b)the moderate fisher who needs three to five boxes for dries, nymphs, streamers, and specialty stuff, c)the wade fisher and float tuber who needs water proof boxes, d)the trout and saltwater guy who needs lots of boxes for different locations, c)the fly tier who needs boxes and never has enough, etc.
2. I think you need to market the specific needs of the fly fisher. For example, the wading fisher with a chest pack needs low profile boxes. The weekend warrior needs an antique looking Wheatley box. The floater/kayaker needs waterproof. The boat fisher and/or guide needs functionality and space.
3. IMHO lots of people think they need waterproof boxes but it isn’t always necessary. We are seeing lots of waterproof chest packs and bags coming out so the waterproof concept might be changing.
4. Fly tiers need boxes for storage as well as fishing. This is a big one for me because I will often tie 2 dozen of a certain pattern for “the season” and they could never all fit in a single box. Thus, I often store my patterns and replace the working box as needed. These home storage boxes don’t need to be expensive.
5. Lately, many tiers have been going more toward Plano-type boxes, especially for saltwater. This applies to bass and warmwater fishing also. The patterns are often big and webby and don’t fit well in the small low-profile boxes.
6. I have found no perfect solution for holding flies with weed guards, aagghh.
7. Let’s talk about boat bags and storage! Many bags are soft sided and simply have a big open space on the inside with lots of side compartments. AAGGHH. They look cool but those side pockets just catch your fly line all day long. Furthermore, they need to have dividers inside to separate the fly boxes from the gear and/or DSLR camera. On the water, you need to have quick access to the fly boxes in a way that makes sense. This is why I love clear see through boxes for boat bags with compartments.
Here are a few additional thoughts from my own collection.1. For wade fishing and/or float tubing I love the CF style boxes. They are waterproof, low-profile and hold a ton of flies. I particularly love the ones with a middle divider because it makes the box hold many more flies – very nice for nymph and dry flies but not so good for streamers. I can comfortably put two in a Simms Chest/Hip pack.
That folding middle is awesome. I used to have one box each for nymphs and dry flies respectively. However, I now have one box for each “type” of fishing. Example, one for the local tailwater and one for the mountain streams, each has nymphs on the left and dries on the right with patterns specific to the water being fished.
2. For streamers and articulated flies, the standard CF style boxes are good but I found a better solution for my style of fishing. It’s also important to point out that most of my big streamer fishing is done from a boat. The technical part is the comparison of the CF style box to the Enrico Puglisi rubber-nib see through box and why I made the switch.
The CF slotted foam streamer box has 10 rows on each side and can, in most cases, hold 60 non-articulated flies (i.e. wooly buggers or dear head buggers, etc). However, the slots are fixed and the hair from other flies is always impeding
the hook from lodging securely. Here is an example of my old streamer box with exactly 62 streamer flies.
The Enrico Puglisi rubber nib see through streamer box has 25 rows and the dimensions are just slightly larger than the CF box. At first, I was skeptical about it’s holding capacity because it is only one sided.
However, you can see below that it holds all 62 flies (from both sides of the CF streamer box) plus 3 additional flies. The technical aspect to this involves those great rubber nibs that allow you to “feel” and “push” the hook into place and cram more flies along the horizontal.
It also makes a great articulated fly box because the nibs will take the two hooks much easier in the vertical. Here are thirty articulated and wiggle minnows.
The downside is that they aren’t waterproof. So they are great for a boat bag but less functional for a chest pack.
3. This is my travel waterproof boat bag, The Patagonia Sub Divider. It holds 5 fly boxes of the CF/Puglisi style on one side and a DSLR and lens on the right.
It is half the size of the Patagonia Great Divider (which by the way can hold 20 fly boxes or 14 boxes plus one Bugger Beast or 12 fly boxes plus a DSLR 2 lenses and gear).
4. I LOVE these plastic boxes to hold flies at home. They are also used for saltwater water streamer patterns. I don’t know who makes them but I get them from my local fly shop, The Fish Hawk.
5. I HATE this CF saltwater box because it has fixed slots and I either need more space or have left-over empty space.
6. I LIKE the Cliffs Bugger Barn. It is good for Clousers and smaller flies.
7. The Orvis compartment boxes are pretty cool. They hold saltwater patterns like Crazy Charlies really well but the size is a bit odd.
8. And Finally, The SA see through boxes are something I thought I would love but over time a few problems have arisen. First, they are slippery! When you have two or three in a chest pack they tend to slide out of the open zipper or your hands. Second, the size is a bit odd compared to other fly boxes. This creates a gap in the chest/hip pack which makes things jingle around when you walk. However, they are my go-to boxes for warmwater fishing, especially bluegill, crappie, and carp.
Organization is the key 😀
I’ve tried many different types of fly boxes but have narrowed it down to using C & F boxes for everything but articulated streamers.
I’m trying to assess what users like best in fly boxes.
- What are some of your favorite fly boxes (brands)?
- Are you loyal to a brand or do you prefer function (those two can/are tied together)?
- Do you want a big box or one that can fit in the front pocket of your waders?
- Waterproof or not?
- Do you prefer to see the flies through the lid?
Dredging up a couple week old thread, but I am currently going through my fly boxes and rethinking things a bit.
I started out with the lower end C&F boxes, two of the smaller ones. I liked those well enough, but had problems occasionally with flies rusting in the bottom third of the boxes. I fish chest-deep on the Clinch at times, and the smaller boxes are anything but waterproof. I really liked the concept of the one with two small boxes for split shot, though. I also love the slit foam, especially for midges.
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