Fly Fishing - Fly Box

PoorlyTiedFly · Newbie Joined: Feb 23, 2008 Posts: 2

Can someone tell me the proper use of the aluminum fly boxes with the divided compartments? I have been given two good quality aluminum boxes - each has 9 small spring loaded doors on one side and a few dozen fixed hook tabs.
Are the divided compartments specifically for dries, wets or does it matter. Are the hook tabs designed for dries to keep them in good shape?
Thanks for the help with such a basic question.

NHtrouthunter · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:48 am Post subject:

divide of all of your different size lead split shot lol......

No, they are the "traditional" dry fly boxes... so you hackles don't get crushed and they help out when windy too....

jeremy · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:38 am Post subject: great point

hey .. i can sense from your question that you are now at where i once was .. and it was very frustrating for me ... like most others i know (i know very very few people who started fly fishing without having convention fished first) .. so, for me the concept of "fishing" was simple and catching fish with lures or bait, i was good at that and totally understand that ... then, i was introduced to fly fishing and i went into a fly shop and i was like "oh my GOD! this is insane? tappered this, 2 wt, 3wt, 9 wt rods huh? match the reel with the rod? what the heck is tippett? floating, sinking and intermediate line? and all of these flies .. this is HARD ..

So i can totally appreciate you question(s) .. because it was HARD for me, but then after many years of doing it ... i realized, "wait a minute .. most of the stuff i see for sale and available to me is totally unnecessary .. and there is no "right" or "wrong" way .. it's just FISHING"

now - i am not saying that you don't need to understand when to use a floating line, intermediate sinking and what rod/reel weights make sense for certain applications .. of course you do ..... but, just remember this during your learning process ... MUCH of what you see is just marketing and certainly fun to look at and ponder "buying" because it seems cool or what not (i do that all the time) ... but, don't let the marketing fool you into thinking that you ACTUALLY NEED all of that stuff .. all you really NEED is the following for trout fishing in almost any situation

1. 5 or 6 wt rod
2. a fly reel
3. backing
4. floating wegith forward fly line
5. a couple "all around dry flies" elk hari caddiss, blue winged olive, stimulator
6. a couple "all around" streamers - black ghost, mickey finn
7. 1 leachy type pattern (olive conehead wooly bugge)
8. straight tippet, for the most part (don't worry about packaged leaders) .. get a big spool of 4 lb. test mono regular fishing line (stren or whatever) it will last you a year or more and cost like 7 bucks .. and you will be all set. if you are having trouble "turning over the flies" .. work on your cast, don't spend the money on tappered leaders.
9. fly boxes - use 'em however they make sense to you .. there is no "right" or "wrong" way ... i am kinda partial to a coffee can type system (just like i did with worms) .. throw all my flies in there .. and viola.

that's it! your in the game! ... now, of course .. it does get more intricate than that .. but doesn't necessarily need to .. i remember how hard it was for me when i was trying to learn .. to just find the "SIMPLE SOLUTION" .. it was pre-internet explosion days and there just wasn't a vast amount of information available to me ... and all i wanted was someone to say to me, "dude, here is the nuts and bolts to fly fishing for trout ... everything else is nice but not totally necessary"

so there ya go ------ that's the "nut's and bolts" .. and i know that i could trout fish and catch fish and have fun .. pretty much anywere with that fundamental system and setup .... for many years i did ... infact, i still do.......

Pzulick · Newbie Joined: Aug 29, 2006 Posts: 11

Man do I have to disagree on the tapered leader thing. I mean, yeah you can go totally overboard tying your own for specific conditions/techniques/etc, but for a couple of dollars you can buy a one piece tapered leader that will (for the most part) last you an entire season, and you just have to replace the tippet. the difference between a tapered leader and a piece of straight mono (for dries and nymping) is (IMO) well worth the few bucks a leader costs.