Organize Cheaply

Notes on My Bench

Here are three ways to organize your fly tying station cheaply. 

1) This tip was taken directly from AK Best, because when a master of a craft writes something you pay attention...  Take a 2x4 cut it, and drill holes in it.  This will serve as your tool caddy.  Even if you by an 8 foot 2x4 it will be a MUCH cheaper investment than

those fancy fly tying organizers.  If your wife complains, paint it.  

2) Search the 'spinning/casting' 

section of your local fishing store.  All of my plastic organizers are the small cheap Plano boxes... around $3 each.  Compare that to an official hook organizer, fly box, or dubbing box, and you can by a lot of those little boxes!  I also use those boxes for all of my dubbing.  NEVER buy an assorted dubbing box it is overpriced and you will run out of your favorite color fast.  Instead, buy the cheapest plastic box you can and purchase small packs of all the colors in the assorted box.  This may actually work out to be the same price in the end, except, you have TONS more dubbing 'backup' you can add when that favorite colors run out. 

3)  Build/customize an old, small, cheap, computer desk.  Most of you will have an old one, unless you have trashed it already, or sold it in a yard sale... if that's the case go to a yard sale and get one for $5, it may be your old one!  My wife gave me her old one willingly and it took me all of 30 minutes to customize it into my ideal tying station.  

Staying organized keeps the other people in the house happy, and it makes you tie faster and better.  Being cheap allows you to spend your money on money worthy materials, such as good hackle and quality hooks.  Have fun and be creative.

*(If you are rich then disregard this post, and buy a custom built Oak fly tying station... someone needs to support a cool business like that!)

**(A photo of my complete bench can be found on the right.)