My Fly Box Fetish

That's right. I have a fly box fetish. But it's not just about fly boxes in general, though I do have my favorites of course and I think they are very cool. My fetish is for fly boxes that are full of flies in neat, well organized rows. Fly boxes that are full of one-off flies that are crammed in every which way don't do much for me. I know that some people look at a messy fly box like that and think that it says something about the owners dedication and passion. Maybe that's true, but to me, a well organized box that has row after row of the same or similar flies in different sizes and colors tells me that the owner knows what works and doesn't care to waste time searching through a hundred different flies to find the one that he wants. It tells me that the owner himself is well organized and methodical. Very seldom do you see anglers standing in the stream with their rods under their arms, staring into a well organized fly box. More often than not, they are staring into a mess and have no clue what they are looking for.

Very Nice!

A while back, Fly Fisherman Magazine published photos of John Barr's fly boxes. To me this was the equivalent of fly box pornography. I'm a big fan of Mr. Barr and I think his flies are exceptional. Of course, even he admits that his boxes don't stay in such a perfect state when he's doing a lot of fishing.

One of John Barr's Boxes from
Fly Fisherman Magazine.

I won't go into how fly boxes should or shouldn't be organized. To me that's a personal thing even though there are some sensible rules of thumb that most people follow. But very often, people organize their fly boxes in ways that sometimes makes sense only to them, which is cool. I like that there is a sense of personality and even mystery to fly box organization. I think that's how it should be. But I have to admit, the sight of some of these fly boxes just fascinates me. I could stare at them for hours...

This guy knows what he's doing!