Storing Fly Tying Tools Pattern & Tying Instructions

For years I kept my fly tying tools readily accessible in a cheap foam rubber tool caddy and it worked quite well until the foam began to degrade. I replaced it with the real thing from Renzetti and even made a wooden frame to dress it up a bit.

Woodworking friends have given me caddies that also work very well although don’t offer as much protection as the foam rubber. Some even include shallow depressions for holding beads and hooks in addition to rods for storing thread spools.

As I began doing fly fishing shows and events, I needed something more portable so switched to a medium-sized tackle tray. I quickly replaced this with the larger size in order to keep everything in one place. Although highly portable, it can be difficult to find tools in the clutter and the tray does little in terms of protecting them.

Fellow tier Gary Hartung suggested another storage method that I found works incredibly well. Simply fill a small container with uncooked rice and insert your most used tools in it, tips first. With this, the tools are super handy, and the rice absorbs moisture which helps keeps them from rusting. Pretty slick.