Fly boxes are full... now what?

[ShortsideK]

I'm sure this is the case with anyone that ties flies. Eventually you run out of things to tie. Your fly boxes are full of dries, nymphs, minnows, leeches, terrestrials of every pattern imaginable. You've weeded out the poorly tied flies and the "experimental" patterns. Now what do you do for the rest of the winter? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[vital shok]

Fill mine please I have had no time this year yet.🙏

[Mr Flyguy]

Her's a list:

1. Participate in a fly swap

2. Organize a fly swap

3. Build a rod, I know you need another one or two (snerk)

4. Take up cross-stitching

5. Learn how to play snooker (ditto snerk)

[SamSteele]

I have a 14 year old newbie fly fisher that could use a few boxes of his own. He keeps loosing mine!

SS

[Mr Flyguy]

More ideas for the winter:

Take people out for guided ice fishing trips

Post videos on fly flying

Give lectures on fly tying

[Pikebreath]

Start fishing for different species as in pike,,,,, and take up saltwater fishing. Tropical flyfishing trips every winter can be become quite addictive.

Start thinking outside the conventional fly box. Start looking for a better mouse trap and become creative and experimental in your approach to fly tying. Scrounge through bargain bins, Dollar stores, craft shops, fabric stores, etc looking for new materials to tie with. Ask yourself is there a way I can tie this on a hook?

This approach to fly tying can become quite entertaining and quite addictive and along the way you will have lots of failed rejects, but there will be a few new patterns you make that work better than conventional / traditional patterns.

[ShortsideK]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

More ideas for the winter:

Take people out for guided ice fishing trips

Post videos on fly flying

Give lectures on fly tying

Thanx for your valued input. You certainly have a lot of ideas. Keep putting them out there. Odds are that sooner or later one of them will be good.

[ShortsideK]

Originally Posted by Pikebreath

Start fishing for different species as in pike,,,,, and take up saltwater fishing. Tropical flyfishing trips every winter can be become quite addictive.

I fly fish only and have done so for pretty much every fish that can be caught on a fly in Alberta. I have tied and used "tons" of pike flies. Tropical flyfishing trips sound great, but too rich for my blood.

Start thinking outside the conventional fly box. Start looking for a better mouse trap and become creative and experimental in your approach to fly tying. Scrounge through bargain bins, Dollar stores, craft shops, fabric stores, etc looking for new materials to tie with. Ask yourself is there a way I can tie this on a hook?

Did the "creative" and "experimental" thing for a bit. Ended up accumulating a bunch of stuff that never gets used. There are reasons that flies are tied a certain way with specified materials... they work!

To me, a hare's ear or pheasant tail nymph is a hare's ear or pheasant tail nymph regardless of what materials or colors are chosen. The same goes for most flies.

This approach to fly tying can become quite entertaining and quite addictive and along the way you will have lots of failed rejects, but there will be a few new patterns you make that work better than conventional / traditional patterns.

We've ALL tied variations of fly patterns that seem to work very well on occasion. Do they work better than conventional/traditional patterns? Difficult to say. We find patterns that work well and then pretty much stick to them. I'm getting tired of taking up space in fly boxes with "outside the box" fly patterns that never get used.

I still tie some absurd patterns, just because, but after looking at them realistically later on, they get no space in my fly box.

Thanx for your suggestions tho'.
I guess I'll just sit back and probably venture off of the fly fishing forum and find a thread somewhere else that irks me and get myself suspended again.

[SNAPFisher]

My suggestion is use them.

Head south. It is a very pretty drive into Arizona and now is the time to fish it. 18-25 degrees out. Every kind of trout stocked everywhere including the native species of apache and gila trout. Then you have small and large mouth bass, carp, catfish, tilapia, and all the usual species of trout we have here plus many more species we do not. I know that is where I will be fishing in winters one day.

[scel]

take a couple of pictures and show us. I bet we can find some deficiencies

Pike flies and articulated streamers seem to be overlooked by most though.

[Mr Flyguy]

Originally Posted by scel

take a couple of pictures and show us. I bet we can find some deficiencies

Pike flies and articulated streamers seem to be overlooked by most though.

Be careful there! Some don't like the spotlight.

[ShortsideK]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

Be careful there! Some don't like the spotlight.

True enough. The only spotlights I've ever been under were mounted on police cruisers.

[scel]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

Be careful there! Some don't like the spotlight.

LOL. I hope you are being sarcastic. It would be somewhat moronic to post to a PUBLIC message board asking for help if they did not want be in the spotlight.

[Taco]

Pretty simple solution to full fly boxes... buy more and bigger fly boxes.

[QBC]

I could tie non stop for months and never get everything I want tto do done....

I'm into Pike and Walleye flies now. All different types of poppers, minnows and attractor patterns. Should keep me busy for another several winters, and the way Pike tear up flies....there may never be enough tying time to keep up with them.

Oh, and buy more fly boxes....You can never have too many no matter what my better half says...

[ShortsideK]

Originally Posted by QBC

I could tie non stop for months and never get everything I want tto do done....
Find this statement hard to believe. If I tied every night until open water, for an hour, I would generate a couple of thousand flies.

I'm into Pike and Walleye flies now. All different types of poppers, minnows and attractor patterns. Should keep me busy for another several winters, and the way Pike tear up flies....there may never be enough tying time to keep up with them.
Another exaggeration. I probably have 50 or so pike flies. While they do get shredded, its not that bad and easy to keep up. I guess I could tie a few poppers. That's one evenings work.
Oh, and buy more fly boxes....You can never have too many no matter what my better half says...

I presently have 19 fly boxes of various sizes.

[3blade]

Drive somewhere and use them. Go catch a sea run cuttie or a largemouth bass.

Sleeping bag, tarp, cans of beans and bags of jerky. Giver!

[Mr Flyguy]

Originally Posted by 3blade

Drive somewhere and use them. Go catch a sea run cuttie or a largemouth bass.

Sleeping bag, tarp, cans of beans and bags of jerky. Giver!

Best ideas yet:

Bass in Florida or Alabama.

Cutties on the west coast.

Although, may have to tie a few new patterns

[Pikebreath]

Well, it sounds like flytying just for the sake of flytying does not appeal to you anymore,,, sounds like it is time to take up curling or darts in the winter,,, and perhaps golf in the summer!!!

[ShortsideK]

Originally Posted by Pikebreath

Well, it sounds like flytying just for the sake of flytying does not appeal to you anymore,,, sounds like it is time to take up curling or darts in the winter,,, and perhaps golf in the summer!!!

I DO enjoy fly tying, but have hit the wall. Can't see the point of tying without a purpose although I continue to tie a couple of flies almost every evening. I am pretty active (for an old guy). Curling doesn't appeal to me. Did that 30 years ago. Darts? Uhuh. Was an avid golfer until 4 years ago when I tore up my shoulder. 100+ rounds a year. Slowly getting back into it. Ice fish regularly, but that's pretty boring. Just for something to do.

After I tore up my shoulder I took up fly fishing. In 4 years I have accumulated 11 fly rods, 12 reels, 22 fly lines and a room full of fly tying stuff, not to mention the associated fly fishing accessories. I fly fish almost every day during open water season and just love it.

I guess I'll just weather the storm and wait for spring.
Just looking for ideas on how to keep interested tying during the winter.

[professori]

Join flytyingforum and check out their fly swap section.http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showforum=24
If you join some of their swaps, you will have a reason for tying and you will get to see the work of some very good tiers at the same time.

[ShortsideK]

Originally Posted by professori

Join flytyingforum and check out their fly swap section.http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showforum=24
If you join some of their swaps, you will have a reason for tying and you will get to see the work of some very good tiers at the same time.

I'll have a look see. Thanx

[chucky]

Sounds like a challenge to me. If I had the time I would tie difficult flies (traditional wets, married wings, salmons, etc), and aim to achieve perfection at every fly at every size. That would take me quite a few winters tying every day to reach Kensawada's level.

https://donbastianwetflies.com/tag/ray-bergman/

https://www.kensawada.com/FLIES/

I guess it all depends in why we tie flies for.
Have fun, and i hope you can find an answer to your problem!

[Mr Flyguy]

Perfection is a waste of time. Pursuit of excellence makes more sense.

[chucky]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

Perfection is a waste of time. Pursuit of excellence makes more sense.

Well said

[coyoteman]

Well lets see, for an active guy---Obtain a 22-250--good scope--coyote caller-heavy white como outfit and boots--and welcome to the exciteing world of yote hunting ,the boys at most any hutherite colony will take them off your hands for $40-$50--lots of fresh air and exercise ,good until early march.

[ShortsideK]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

Perfection is a waste of time. Pursuit of excellence makes more sense.

Thank you Aristotle.

[Mr Flyguy]

Originally Posted by coyoteman

Well lets see, for an active guy---Obtain a 22-250--good scope--coyote caller-heavy white como outfit and boots--and welcome to the exciteing world of yote hunting ,the boys at most any hutherite colony will take them off your hands for $40-$50--lots of fresh air and exercise ,good until early march.

hutherite?

[Scottmisfits]

Find someone local and teach them how to tie. Google videos can only do so much.

Mentor a youth fisher or fly tier. I know nothing about tying but my son (now 12) had shown interest in learning from my Dad. I never did get into doing it yet although I have a starter kit.

Build, or learn how to build rods. Again, going back to my Dad,he starting building rods because he hated the commercial fly rod grips. He’s a tradesman and always found the cork to be to small. I have the first rod my Dad ever built, my son has the last rod that he has bui,t to date. Difference in that being my rod from him was passed down, my sons was built for him. Learning to build is another thing I am wanting to do. After I learn how to cast properly maybe, lol.

[mattthegorby]

Tie them to sell at craftfairs/markets next christmas with proceeds to be given to some conservation charity you support. The market would not be fly fisherman as much as their friends and family looking for a gift.

Attach them to a nifty little card saying that the purchase of this fly is going towards supporting the sport that they love. Set up a bench at fairs and tie while you sell to drum up conversation.

Matt

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