Tag Archives: Fly Tying Desk

Portable Fly Tying Table

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I mentioned during the off season that I’d been considering building something to better organize my fly tying tools, which up until now have been stored in a bunch of boxes and ziplock bags. I considered everything from full blown desks to much smaller portable tying stations. In the end I decided to go with a simpler portable tying table, which takes up less space and allows me to easily move my tying area around the house (or even on a trip).

The design I ended up using was based off this one. I used pine for the base and all of the other wood. It’s still pretty bare bones since I have only incorporated my main tools so far. As you can see, there’s lots of room for additional tools and containers, but it’s already much more functional than what I was working with before.

Initial version of my portable fly tying station

Initial version of my portable fly tying station

Features so far include:

  • Metal rods to hold spools: thread, silk, tinsel, wire, etc
  • Slots to hold main tying tools: scissors, whip finish tool, bodkin, thread bobbin, hair stacker, wax, etc
  • Larger holes for containers
  • Hangers for larger more awkward tools, such as hackle pliers
  • Hole to hold my magnifying lamp
  • Enough table space to hold my vice, a tying book and some materials
  • Space under the rear ledge to store materials or containers

Possible additions/modifications I’m considering:

  • Pull-out drawers under the ledge at the back to store hooks, bead heads and the like
  • Additional metal rods to hold more spools
  • Additional holes and hangers for more tools and containers
  • Possibly a different finish for the base

That Time of Year…

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As is obvious from my sudden lapse in blog posts, things have been pretty slow to non-existent on the fishing front since the trout season closer. This is the norm for me around this time of year, when the weather gets suddenly colder and rainier and the fishing slows down.

That doesn’t mean I’ve got nothing to write about though.  As we get some drier days and the crowds thin down I’ll be getting out for some fishing here and there.  Also, this year I’ll be spending more time on the fly tying bench restocking my supply and experimenting with new flies.

In fact, I’m currently in the midst of doing some research for a little side project: building a custom fly tying station. I haven’t quite decided yet whether this will be a full size fly desk, or a smaller, more portable tying station. There are some neat ideas out there and I plan on combining them to make something of my own.  Here’s a couple links I have been looking at with some neat plans:

Fly Tying Desk
Portable Fly Tying Bench

The idea is that this will cost very little – possibly using nothing but scrap wood I have lying around my garage. I’ll post some more details and pics as I flush out the design and start working on it.