A Tale Of Two Fly Fishers

Yeah, that's one of my fly boxes and should illustrate the disorganization in my life general as well as my fly fishing life. Looking at this picture you can understand very well why I find myself, over and over, standing in the river peering in one of my boxes and asking myself, "Where's that damn Crackleback?"

The truth is I've always flied on the wing, haphazardly if you will and so far it's worked for me. But, in doing so it has required a lot of expended energy and frustration. So, recently I decided to get a little more structured with the way I carry flies and asked the Blue River fly fishing community for advice on which fly box system to purchase.

Overwhelming, C&F got some great reviews and recommendations. Although I'd heard of C&F many times I'd never actually seen one and figured they were kind of pricey for an indentured servant like myself. However, we get what we pay for and I figure a C&F is coming my way soon.

But, there was another system on my mind that had me interested...one that Chris Adams showed me in November. Chris had a Scientific Anglers X System. I loved the functionality of this system because with a snap, one can easily change seasons. The second thing I noticed was how organized Chris was in his order of flies.

Now, I have known Chris for about eight years and from my first encounter with him I came away with the feeling that this guy has it together...he's neat, disciplined, and organized. I think his fly boxes are representative of my observation of Chris.

I'm going to get both a SA X System and C&F and then maybe I will have the best of the fly box world...but will it change my habits? If the picture above doesn't show the disarray in my life general and fly fishing life, just wait until you see the upcoming pictures of my fly-tying room. It's the room I've been calling the "museum". The museum of unnatural fly fishing.

Check out Chris's fly boxes below.