Ed 18 No more boxing!

 

I started this back in Ed 16 but in the interval life-stuff kept getting in the way, until a couple of days ago, when I forced myself to make the time, no more excuses. 


    

                                           


  I pored over the whole lot one by one, rejecting anything I just didn’t like the look of, or idea behind, and those which just didn’t look like the tying was right. I’ll go through the rejects another time, continuing to sort them into two piles: those good enough to be give-aways, and those that will go to the blade, so that I can re-purpose the hooks and beads. It took hours and hours including some frantic scribblings of possible combinations or fresh ideas.



 The process has allowed me to reduce the fly box collection by a net four units, with an added bonus that I’ve achieved a modicum of colour identification. The ‘orange’ (i.e. highlighted) boxes contain my dry flies, the ‘green’ ones are for the rivers, holding jigs, nymphs, and spiders. The two larger boxes are now home to lures. Two smaller Grey’s boxes house Damsels, Cormorants, Muskins, specials, Snails, stalking flies, Corixa, cased Caddis, and space for new patters to be trialled; these boxes fit the breast pockets of my fishing vest, where they will be semi-permanent. The ‘blue’ box holds my Buzzers. The small ‘yellow’ pod contains the ‘Essential Seven’, supposed to cover every eventuality, and which I will actually get round to using one day. The other two, larger ‘yellows’ hold Daddies, Bristol Hoppers, Hare’s Ears, PTNs, Diawl Bachs and Crunchers.



 The untouched boxes still in my boat bag are a green aluminium box of fur-strip patterns, a Rainbow-patterned box of traditional wet flies, and two other ‘blue’ boxes for my Boobies and for Blobs.

 The wheat has been well and truly sorted from the chaff at last, and I am reasonably content. For now!

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