I have to get organized, but how?

[Steve Vaughn]

Or stop tying, but that's not going to happen. I still have dry flies I tied for hatches back East that we don't have out here and are 30+ years old. I have about a thousand assorted Globugs from my days chasing Lake Ontario browns and steelhead. Just don't have the heart to throw flies away. Many hold memories of blizzard hatches on the Beaverkill or Delaware Rivers.

Guess I could fish more so lost flies on trees, snags, and, yes, big fish will thin things out. But then, again, I'll just tie more. Would love to hear how you folks organize huge, diverse fly collections.

 

[SurfnFish]

Keep best of breed, give away or sell the rest.
Good memories are treasure, everything else is mostly just stuff.

 

[PhilR]

I just went through this:
- heartlessly binned a bunch of flies I never use, or will never use again. Most of which were early in my tying journey, and stunk. But many were also purchased on fun trips or for areas I no longer fish.
- Emptied all the random fly boxes into bins, like in your third picture. Storing flies in all those different size boxes just meant chaos in the drawer and inefficient storage.

Once you get everything into bins, it's easier to ask yourself why do I have a huge stack of these flies that I'll never fish? And I've kinda gotten to the point where I only fish 3 or 4 flies 90% of the time.

Now, if someone could help me thin out the family photos I've inherited, of people I've never heard of. It seems rude to just throw them out.

 

[Tom Butler]

The last couple years/winters I have tied a lot of flies on hooks after cutting old stuff down and tying new flies onto them. For old hooks I usually tie something I know works. Save new hooks for learning/testing new patterns. Just have a hard time throwing hooks out because I loose so many flies. I can hear grandma Butler "Waste not, want not, that's what the termites say". Often I decide it's not worth the effort and out they go. Mostly I just tie for the next expected hatch or two, or whatever is upcoming anymore. Slowly thinning things out.
I got boxes of dries in the bottom of the bag and storage box, many moving onto their third decade. I keep thinking some day I'll fish dries again but I just don't. Like you not sure what to do with them.
I sort my boxes wet/nymph, streamer, dry, and lake sections.

 

[Eastside]

Donate to some of the worthy causes that take flies. @WWKimba1 posted recently about his swaps and causes that he donates the extra flies to. That should help reduce the volume and will make you feel good. I also need to thin the fly collection because I have upgraded my preferred patterns, due in large part to participation on this site.

 

[Zak]

Donate to some of the worthy causes that take flies. @WWKimba1 posted recently about his swaps and causes that he donates the extra flies to. That should help reduce the volume and will make you feel good. I also need to thin the fly collection because I have upgraded my preferred patterns, due in large part to participation on this site.

I use stacking bins like in the OPs second to last photo. Lot of early attempts and weird experiments in there! They'd probably catch fish, but if I donated them it would have to be anonymously

 

[WWKimba1]

I use stacking bins like in the OPs second to last photo. Lot of early attempts and weird experiments in there! They'd probably catch fish, but if I donated them it would have to be anonymously

I NEVER attach my photo to any of my ties!

Kim

 

[_WW_]

I had a lot of stuff, then I inherited my brother-in-law's stuff so now I have twice as much. A lot has been tossed but there is a ton left. What I have started doing is putting together boxes for places I go. Spring BC lake fishing, Henry's Lake, Lenice, Montana in June, Spring Steelhead, fall cutthroat, etc. Trying to keep it at two boxes per place. We'll see how that works...

 

[Buzzy]

I had a lot of stuff, then I inherited my brother-in-law's stuff so now I have twice as much. A lot has been tossed but there is a ton left. What I have started doing is putting together boxes for places I go. Spring BC lake fishing, Henry's Lake, Lenice, Montana in June, Spring Steelhead, fall cutthroat, etc. Trying to keep it at two boxes per place. We'll see how that works...

Wayne - in theory I like* your idea of sorting. I thought about bringing my boxes with me this winter to better organize them (which would have meant discarding/donating/pay it forward or.... a lot of flies that I've never used and never will) but I left them home. My bad.

* I do like your idea and have considered doing so but just haven't quite gotten there yet. Instead, from time to time on a long hike with my float tube I'll just take a jig and midge box along and forget to take along nymphs and dries only to encounter a decent mayfly hatch. I obviously haven't been able to subscribe to @Tim L's successful method of fly inventory.

 

[_WW_]

Depending on the size of the boxes it might not hurt to have a just in case box or reserve a section of the other two for just in case flies.
In steelhead camp I'll have quite few boxes but usually put together a single box for the day. For lakes and trout streams where hatches are important it gets a little more tricky.

 

[kmudgn]

For me, it is not the boxes, but the desk (before and after)

 

[Mike Bacca]

I tried to organize my tying bench so many times I decided to just do it a couple of times a year. That first post has only about 1/4 the fly boxes I have that are full of flies. Tying is my addiction, I tie about 5 1/2 dozen flies everyday.

 

[Steve Vaughn]

I tried to organize my tying bench so many times I decided to just do it a couple of times a year. That first post has only about 1/4 the fly boxes I have that are full of flies. Tying is my addiction, I tie about 5 1/2 dozen flies everyday.

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

 

[krusty]

Or stop tying, but that's not going to happen. I still have dry flies I tied for hatches back East that we don't have out here and are 30+ years old. I have about a thousand assorted Globugs from my days chasing Lake Ontario browns and steelhead. Just don't have the heart to throw flies away. Many hold memories of blizzard hatches on the Beaverkill or Delaware Rivers.

Guess I could fish more so lost flies on trees, snags, and, yes, big fish will thin things out. But then, again, I'll just tie more. Would love to hear how you folks organize huge, diverse fly collections.
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Ah...the last breath of a dying New Year's Resolution.

Just say "NO" to New Year's Resolutions....they just end up alongside the detritus of unused gym membership cards, self-help books, and heart-healthy recipes.

 

[Mossback]

I fill my boxes, organized by fly type ( dry, nymph, streamer) and species ( steelhead, trout) and then lakes, local saltwater, and tropics. Try and keep them stocked, and as I tie more, just replace the worst of the flys with better ones, and take the lesser flys and put them in a backup box.
I have more than I will ever use.

Goes for materials as well.
Someday all that stuff is gonna make a hella garage sale.

 

[RCF]

You just missed the deadline for donations to MGTU:

MGTU Annual Banquet Donations Needed

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1407047883488608 Time to all you tiers to put up their best. The trout of SW Montana will thank you.

pnwflyfishing.com

Maybe next year?

I downsized (somewhat) my flies when I retired. Some were easy to identify - never going there again. On ones I was unsure of, I put a piece of tape across the lid and body of the fly box. After a year I went back and checked. If the box did not have a broken seal (tape) off it went.

There was a steelhead fly swap here on PNWFF a couple of years ago. I donated a number of flies to it as an anonymous donor for those that participated.

I find it much easier to provide/donate flies somewhere knowing that they will be used or used for a good cause.

 

[_WW_]

Ah...the last breath of a dying New Year's Resolution.

Just say "NO" to New Year's Resolutions....they just end up alongside the detritus of unused gym membership cards, self-help books, and heart-healthy recipes.

I resolve to be resolute in not making resolutions.

 

[Mike Bacca]

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

You got it right there, its a problem I hope never goes away.

 

[FinLuver]

Tie, fish, repeat…

 

[FinLuver]

Another hour or so of organizing and finding the tying bench…and I’ll begin the tying journey once more, after a 5 year layoff. Last time tying was at the Albany Expo in 2019. Can’t hardly wait to see if it’s really is like ridin’ a bike.