Tips for Improving Fly Tying Organization

**SaboVT** · 03-10-2009, 03:02 AM

Anyone have some tips/recommendations for improving the organization of their materials and/or fly tying areas?

I'll begin with a couple that have helped me,

1) Buying a tool caddy or some other device for organizing tools is a near must. Since buying a Renzetti tool caddy I spend half the amount of time looking for tools and it keeps my fly tying table/computer desk much more organized and clean.

2) I just recently learned this one from the Winter '08 Fly Tyer....Using loose leaf binder rings to keep materials together and organize by type/color...etc. This works especially well for dubbings. Ever notice that nearly every material is in a small zip lock bag? Either using the existing hole or punching a hole in the bag, you can string together like materials very quickly. I'm seriously considering building or buying a rack to hang the binder rings from as well so that they are not crammed in a drawer and are in plain sight.

alanb_ct · 03-10-2009, 05:34 AM

I think about this all the time.

For my dubbings, I found a deep plastic container at a craft store. It is about 4in high by 10in wide by 16in long. The depth allows you to stand all the dubbing packets on end, and you can flip through them. The binder method is good, too, but you can store at least 100 dubbing packages in the box I mention, and do it in a small space. Maybe I will post a picture later.

The main comment from me is to look for storage solutions that match the size of the material you want to store. I try to eliminate "air" storage whenever I can.

**nutman** · 03-10-2009, 05:48 PM

when tying nymphs ,when you get to the legs and thorax ,tie the legs in going forward so that the feather tips go over the eye of the hook ,then dubb the thorax in ,then push the the tips back ward ,seperate them then tie them in ! it is faster and they stay in place this way !then pull the shell case over the top and tie in the head !

**scottiedog** · 03-15-2009, 08:02 PM

This might be something everyone does by default, but I just organized all my hooks into plastic, multi-compartment boxes - arranged by type/size for the rows/columns. Picked up 36-compartment boxes from the Container Store today. Printed out a full-size cover label with details of the hooks in each compartment. Makes it real easy to find them, and figure out which type/size of hooks you really need to get more of. Originally found out about this on FFOTW: http://ffotw.com/?p=315. Just put one together for beads too. Bye bye little plastic bags.

**Dr. BlueDun** · 03-16-2009, 09:27 AM

I make a lot of use of these vertical plastic storage drawers to store "stuff" ( a la George Carlin) in the/ or near my F/T desk. Then I break things down further using all kinds of "Zip-Lock" bags to store things by category---the bags I use go from the smaller sandwich sizes to half and gallon sized bags. Everything is rounded up to include furs etc.---Of course most of these are labeled---but after many years I am pretty good at spotting fur differences. I would say dubbings are also arranged either by dubbing boxes or again the old zip-locks. Small items are arranged in smaller drawer cabinets with either the drawers labeled or the bags again. Such things as beads which are in little zippered baggies are left in their containers. Plastic boxes for hooks and all hooks for the same or similar use i.e. "Nymphs" are bagged in their original containers in a zipper bag. The rest of my "stuff" is stored in large plastic tubs---also labeled and segregated in zip baggies. Lots of baggies and tubs but better than rummaging through cardboard boxes looking for that little 6" x 6" piece of polar bear fur I bought in 1954 in Montana. :