Author Topic: organizing your nymphs (Read 270 times)

Paul Bourcq · « **on:** September 10, 2009, 09:51:09 PM »

How do you guys organize your nymphs....tungsten, non tungsten wets, czechs, beadheads, emergers?

Does anybody organize there czechs by weight? i know alot of people will weigh them in grams and organize each row by gram weight. then if you need a little deeper just go up a half gram or so. Does anybody organize them by weight using diffrent colors of thread for diffrent weight? I always like seeing peoples fly boxes but its a touchy subject sometimes.

I found myself hunting nymphs this weekend in the comp, im very low on flys but by the end of this winter my sytem i hope will be a well oiled machine. I plan to tie ALOT.

Dejon Hamann · « **Reply #1 on:** September 10, 2009, 10:06:03 PM »

I have more fly boxes than any man really should. Catalogs of flies that I carry with me everywhere and never really use. When I head out in a competition beat I have one fly palate in my WJ Confluence full of flies - that's it. I learned this from the venerable Loren Williams. In his words: "I develop a theory of flies and tie multiplies of those patterns before competition. I live and die by that theory."

I hear some guys weigh their flies and others categorize them with different colors. I'm only using a few patterns in a few different sizes and I'm confidant about their weight. Almost all my flies are lead wrapped with tungsten bead, so just changing hook size does the trick.

Paul Colcord · « **Reply #2 on:** September 10, 2009, 10:23:17 PM »

I do the same thing bourq. Last weekend i had the confluence sorta full. If the flies in it hadn't of worked i'd have been dead in the water. If i have to many flies with me it means having to make to many decisions. As far as organized, my boxes look like my daughter took'em out and played soccer with'em.

Josh Almond · « **Reply #3 on:** September 10, 2009, 11:11:33 PM »

I judged Josh Stephens at the qualifier this past weekend and was amazed to see the amount of boxes he carries. I would have been lost, but everytime he changed flies he knew exactly what box the next fly was in. Always clipped, tied and back in the water in a matter of seconds.

Bourq and Pcole steal all my flies so my boxes are always empty. But when they are full my confluence station looks like this

Looking down at the patch

Left row: Standard nymphs (non beadhead/non tungsten beads)
Middle section: Indicator dries on top row followed by all tungsten flies
Righ row: Midges, midges and more midges

Mike Norton · « **Reply #4 on:** September 11, 2009, 01:37:10 AM »

pbourq
funny you posted this..just before I came down for the regional I went through my boxes and made sure of what I wanted to have readily available in front of me instead of fumbleing around.In the past that would not have bothered me but I wanted to go down and be able to say this is what i want and here it is. Now my other problem was i should have brushed up alittle more on the knot I wanted to use for quicker tying ..but lesson learned. I know what i did wrong and have corrected it . but at least my box is in order

mike

Chris Smith · « **Reply #5 on:** September 11, 2009, 03:22:28 PM »

I saw one of Hanner's dry fly boxes this weekend and subsquently have decided to redo mine.

Typically, I do one row each of the nymphs I have most confidence in...organized from right to left, biggest to smallest, with the heaviest flies in each size starting on the right.

I then move two or three of each nymph that I want to fish to my Fishpond tray. I can't move the d@mn dries there, because I end up crushing the hackles. I'm going to have to do something about that...

Todd Oishi · « **Reply #6 on:** December 11, 2009, 03:24:34 PM »

During practice sessions I keep my flies organized in fly pattern specific boxes (dries, nymphs, wets, attractors, still-waters, etc...). I then use a single fly box to store my "go to flies" once we have determined the more productive patterns for that specific venue. But with that being said; I do carry a back-up fly box that possesses the exact same flies - in the event that I should accidentally drop or lose a box in the river's current.

Just remember that you WILL be disqualified if you wade beyond your beat marker, so you might as well kiss your fly box good-bye if you happen to drop it in the lower half of your beat and it is carried into the buffer zone or another beat, which emphasizes the need to have a back-up plan in place, as well as a few zingers to keep your fly boxes secured and in place at all times.

I learned that lesson the hard way at the 2008 US NFFC...

Todd Oishi · « **Reply #7 on:** December 11, 2009, 03:29:29 PM »

I should also add that storing the dry fly boxes in a waterproof bag or pouch is always a great strategy...

Pete Erickson · « **Reply #8 on:** December 11, 2009, 07:00:00 PM »

I do pretty much the same as Todd. I have a duffel bag full of fly boxes(enough for a small army of anglers!)that I bring to comps...usually they are separated by type of bug, i.e., stoneflies, caddis, etc. while I'm practicing I compile 2 comp boxes that are Identical in case I lose one...

I (unlike Loren) do not always live or die by one plan for the session...I head back to the duffel bag in the middle of a session often times $:-\$ I wish that I didnt have to change my plan mid-session, but my gut tells me to, when I'm not "feeling" it. Both approaches work well I suppose...it's just a matter of personality...