Spring has sprung, and it’s time to finish…or start your tying, as I often do. You walk up to the desk to find the top looking like a blended mess of feathers, fur, and other assorted fly tying materials. Or, perhaps you don’t have a permanent tying space. Company drops in and you have to quickly move your stuff out the way. As you scurry to put stuff away all your size 16 dry fly hooks pour out on the floor, or better yet, into your last bit of a discontinued dubbing that is a perfect Green Caddis match. I could go on, yes, with scenarios from my past, but you get the idea.
I decided this year is going to be different. I’m going to get organized and be able to find what I need, when I need it! The first order of business is hooks. I have a decent system now by organizing my primary tying hooks in some boxes. This system was fine, but before long, I ran out of space in my hook drawer. Recently I discovered Stonfo’s Magnetic Hooks Boxes. They looked a little small, but I thought if I could condense my hooks, I would possibly free up some much needed space in the desk.
The pictures speak volumes to the space I gained, but the story doesn’t stop there. These boxes just work! They are constructed of what they term as indestructible. I don’t know about that, let’s just say I didn’t turn my seven-year-old son on them, but I didn’t bounce them around a bit. Yep, they are tough. The magnets hold the hooks firmly, and each boxes has it’s own magnetic pencil, a little yellow stick that neatly fits in the box. I find it pretty easy to pull most hooks out with my fingers, but the yellow pencil makes life much easier on anything less than an 18. Each box has space for you to write the hook number and size. I recommend a superfine sharpie and a steady hand. If you mess up, you can easily remove the writing with rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip…speaking from experience.
The Stonfo Magnetic Box will hold big hooks, but not 100 of them. So, I opted to keep all my long shank hooks in Hareline’s 20 Compartment Hareline Box. The 10 compartment Hareline box works really well too, if you don’t need that many compartments.
The Stonfo Magnetic boxes are available in two sizes. The large, green in color, has 14 magnetic incline compartments. The medium, orange in color, has 10 magnetic incline compartments. One of the two will get the job done, but you will have to judge which one will meet your needs. These boxes should be the cat’s meow for the traveling tyer.
Yes, I probably have too many hooks, and probably to talk to someone about it. But, when I leave for a trip and need some hooks, they will travel safe and sound.
TT
