Rotary fly box

[Mike Connor]

Some of you might like this, these have been fitted into a Wheatley box, but you can fit it into anything you like, I have made a couple out of plastic sandwich boxes. Somebody sent me the original picture a long time ago but I have unfortunately forgotten who it was.

Basically all it is is a few rollers, these are wood, but I have used aluminium tube on some newer models;



and the rollers are fitted with foam or similar. On newer models I have used tesa-moll draught excluder;



It is available in various sizes and profiles;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tesa-Draught-Ex ... 468&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tesa-Draught-Ex ... 468&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draught-Exclude ... 468&sr=8-5

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tesa-Draught-Ex ... 468&sr=8-7

This stuff is powerfully self adhesive on the back. Also ideal for lining fly-boxes and sticking on your hat!

If you push magnetic strip down through the hollow part of the excluder with a good waterproof glue, ( to prevent rusting), then the strip will also hold barbless hooks and very firmly! Just push the hook point into the foam and it is held in place by the magnet. The flies are held perfectly with tails and hackles clear and are easily and quickly sorted.

The main trick is decide how large you want your rollers, how much clearance you want for your flies, ( try it out ), and then find a box to suit. You can get a very large number of flies into a box like this so make sure you attach a lanyard to it!

You can also make the rollers easily changeable and so you can change your fly selections quickly and easily.

TL
MC

[fflutterffly]

Mike where do you find these things! You are a wonder. One more thing I have to try out. What percentage do you think this increases your fly box capacity? Thanks.

[Mike Connor]

Mike where do you find these things! You are a wonder. One more thing I have to try out. Thanks.

Some I find some I invent. I have to do something to keep myself from worrying about the best flies and losing even more hair!

My pleasure, hope you enjoy it. Really is very good, much better than "flat" boxes, and simple plastic boxes. Is easy and quick to make.

You may have to look around in the US for the right draught excluder, there is some stuff available;

http://www.amazon.com/M-D-Building-Prod ... 800&sr=8-3

look for "weather stripping" or similar;

http://www.amazon.com/Frost-V25WA-Extre ... 92&sr=8-11

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_ ... Caps%2C268

TL
MC

[Mike Connor]

QUOTE What percentage do you think this increases your fly box capacity? UNQUOTE

Well, you can carry a lot of flies on four rollers with four strips to a roller and in a lot better organised and generally better manner for the flies than you can on flat foam, and they are easier to put in and take out. Exactly how many you can carry depends of course on the size and number of the rollers, the size of the flies you carry, and whatever spacing you use. You can use a deeper box and still be able to get at the flies easily, because you don't have to scrabble about in the bottom of the box, you just turn the roller until the fly you want is on top. Some people scrunch flies together to fit in as many as they can, and others like to space them more widely. You can certainly carry a lot more flies in a smaller deeper box with the rollers than you can in a similar sized box just with flat foam on two sides and it is a lot more convenient. You are using space in more dimensions than you can with just two sheets of foam.

Easy enough to try it, you can use all sorts of boxes. I made quite a good one for a friend using a soap box like this;

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&index=b ... =smtfx1-20 and he has over two hundred flies in it so he tells me, and could fit more. On average with small flies you can put in six flies per inch of strip without crowding, so in the small soap box that is three rollers with 4 strips three inches long per roller = = 36" of strip = 216 flies at a minimum, and that is a small box. Fits easily in any small pocket.

http://www.dollardays.com/i676111-whole ... -case.html ( just to show the box )

Hinged sandwich boxes are also good, and of course a lot bigger. Indeed you can use a lot of stuff. Very easy to make. There are various ways of mounting the rollers.

In the Wheatley box shown in the first post there are approximately 160 flies mounted in the box and they are well spaced out as you can see.

TL
MC

[Mike Connor]

Found a commercial one, ( I have never looked before!);

http://www.flyforums.co.uk/flies-fly-bo ... tobox.html

TL
MC

[kanutripr]

Mike, your imagination never ceases to amaze me!

Nice clean job!



Vicki

[Smuggler]

This is fan-friggen-tastic. Well done!

[DNicolson]

You're idea looks like the best proposition Mike.
Sixty quid from Wheatley, that is $95.00 to our friends over the pond.
Enough to curdle yer whisky.

[Mike Connor]

This was not entirely my idea. A long time ago now I sent a post to somewhere where I had two pieces of broomstick wrapped in closed cell foam and mounted in a box. This worked very well and because of the curved nature of the cylinders on which the flies are mounted it protects hackles and tails etc very well.

Some time later somebody sent me a picture of a version of the rollers mounted in a wooden box and with strips of foam instead of the rollers being completely covered in foam. Some time after that I received the picture I posted here in the first post. I just found it the other day while clearing out some old discs, and I thought it might interest some people. I can't remember exactly when I got it, quite a few years now or I would remember, and I can't remember who sent it to me. I did not consider it all that important.

I have made a few of these things over the years, and each time I tried to improve the idea. I was not aware that the idea was commercially available.

These things are quite easy to make, there are no special skills or knowledge required and I imagine that most fly-dressers would have no trouble at all in making one up that suits them.

With regard to the price of the commercial version, they use an original Wheatley fly-box and that is in itself very expensive. The other materials cost very little, and the time involved is also minimal, but people have to make a living somehow, and if they can find people willing to pay 65 Quid for such a box, then fair enough.

The box will last a very long time, possibly a whole lifetime and be very very useful over that time. There are plenty of people who pay double that and more for a dry fly saddle.

I don't really care much at all what people charge for or pay for things. It is not relevant to me. If a few people like the idea and make the box and enjoy it, then that's fine, I really don't care about anything else.

TL
MC

[wayneb]

Very interesting and unique! That said, how do the rollers stay in, friction fit?

Wayneb