A Few Flies Short

There is something oddly satisfying to me about carrying a completely full fly box to the river. The box I always have with me is a beefy one from C&F, designed to accommodate 940 flies, which might be a little overkill....



Admittedly I am a belt and suspenders type of guy. I carry spare rods and reels, extra hemostats and nippers, and several spools of each X" of tippet. You get the idea.  In short, I am not a role model for  Yvonne Chouinard's  "the more you know the less you need" minimalist philosophy of fly fishing. Even when I fish in our neighborhood creek with a Tenkara rod I, struggle with only taking a single fly box and lanyard. Perhaps this is just a public admission that I don't know a lot so I need a lot of backup on the stream.

A few years back I bought Pat Dorsey's "Tying and Fishing Tailwater Flies", which is replete with photos of Pat's fully stocked fly boxes. After seeing that, I knew I had discovered a kindred spirit.

Granted, Pat is a full time guide, author, and fly tier and I am...not. So it would  be reasonable to assume that Pat has a legitimate reason to carry so many flies. My desire for a full fly box is more of  a character quirk than a professional requirement. But before you rush to judgement, consider some alternate reasons for filling a fly box.

I tie most of the flies I carry. It is a tangible result of time spent at the vise. In my professional career, most of my work produces electronic results - emails, spreadsheets, reports, etc. Many of you are in similar straits - we produce intangibles. Craft is increasingly rare. Thankfully there are still artists and craftspeople among us, but I suspect an increasing proportion of us spend our days staring at screens, making ones and zeros turn into paychecks (and even those are electronic).

Taking the time to create something I can put to use in the stream is a way to be involved with nature on days when I cannot fish. To take bits of fluff and thread and produce a replica of an insect phase is something tangible. Thus my fly box is not just a collection of things to fool fish.  They are insect decoys that serve as a conduit to the physical dimension.

So if we meet a-stream, and I offer you a couple flies, know that it is far more than an attempt to share what little success I may have had  landing a few fish.  Rather , it is offered in the hope that it connects you to the reality I have experienced...even if I am a few flies short of a full box.