Storing Fly Tying Supplies

I love to fly fish and I love to tie flies. I'll often spend spare time in the off season tying flies both at home, in the office, as well as in hotel rooms when I travel. Tying supplies tend to gather over time so often you'll end up with a nearly endless amount of stuff, often greatly disorganized.

One approach is to have a dedicated fly tying bench or table, often custom made with lots of storage built in. These are sometimes beautiful pieces of furniture as well and are ideal for many folks with the room for them. I have the room, but tend to tie in many different places as I've mention as I know many of you do, so they are not ideal for me.

I tend to store most of my supplies in plastic boxes. I have a couple of tackle boxes that can carry my main tools, like a vice, scissors, bodkins, etc as well as some basics like hooks, head cement and lead and bead chain eyes, etc. When I fly I use the smaller tackle box and place it in my checked luggage, neatly cushioned by clothing. Note that homeland security will almost certainly open your bag to check it out as they'll be lots of metal here. I also use a larger tackle box which of course holds more when I'm traveling by car.

I'll also have a plastic bag or two that will carry additional tying supplies, like hackle, various tails, and miscellaneous artificial tying materials. These also get nestled between clothes in my bag.

Once I arrive at my location, be it a hotel room or wherever, it's easy to setup and whip out a few flies when ever I have a few spare minutes to relax!