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Tacky Flydrophobic Fly Box

3K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  Eyejuggler 
#1 ·
Hey all, I picked up a couple of these fancy "Flydrophobic" fly boxes by Tacky a couple few months ago, and after using them for a spell I wanted to share my thoughts with you fellow saltwater enthusiasts.

So these things have some sort of special vent system that is designed to not only keep water out, but be breathable and let moisture escape. I was a bit doubtful how well these would work in the saltwater, but I gotta tell ya, I am super impressed.

Over the past few months I've been using these boxes mostly to store flies that people fish, and then I cut off to change flies. So basically I've had these things stuffed with freshly soaked in saltwater fly patterns off and on for most of this year. I just cracked open one of the boxes to look for a particular pattern, and something jumped out at me.... There is virtually NO rust on any of my hooks. None whatsoever. The hooks in the box range from stainless steel Daichii saltwater hooks, to black nickel Ahrex and Kona hooks, and there is literally no rust at all.

I'm very, very lazy about rinsing flies after they've been used in saltwater, and am constantly having flies rust out after cutting them off and putting them back in a box. I've always been annoyed with this, but am far too lazy to spend time rinsing flies. However with these breathable boxes there is absolutely no rust. When this fact dawned on me, it really blew me away. The vent system must do its job, because virtually every other time I've removed changed flies and stuck a wet, saltwater soaked fly back in a box its generally rusty within a week. In one of the two boxes I bought I have a 10 or so brand new patterns that I've stuffed in there, and they've spent the last quite a while in the same box as the wet, used flies that I've stuck in there as I've cut them off of people's lines, and there is not a speck of rust on these new flies either. I've often had the problem in the past of neighboring flies also getting rusty just from being near a wet fly. Not the case with these boxes.

My biggest complaint about these boxes are they aren't terribly big, and don't hold a ton of flies... However for the purpose of storing wet, used in the salt flies, these things are friggen fantastic!

Anyway, just thought I'd share with you all. These aren't super cheap as fly boxes go, but I'm here to tell you they flat out work and when it comes to salvaging used flies without needing to rinse them, they are worth their weight in gold!

If you're lazy like me, and are bad about rinsing flies after a day of fishing, I highly recommend checking one of these boxes out. Our saltwater environment is terrible on gear, so anything that works this well at helping keep things rust free is A OK in my book!

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#2 ·
Hey all, I picked up a couple of these fancy "Flydrophobic" fly boxes by Tacky a couple few months ago, and after using them for a spell I wanted to share my thoughts with you fellow saltwater enthusiasts.

So these things have some sort of special vent system that is designed to not only keep water out, but be breathable and let moisture escape. I was a bit doubtful how well these would work in the saltwater, but I gotta tell ya, I am super impressed.

Over the past few months I've been using these boxes mostly to store flies that people fish, and then I cut off to change flies. So basically I've had these things stuffed with freshly soaked in saltwater fly patterns off and on for most of this year. I just cracked open one of the boxes to look for a particular pattern, and something jumped out at me.... There is virtually NO rust on any of my hooks. None whatsoever. The hooks in the box range from stainless steel Daichii saltwater hooks, to black nickel Ahrex and Kona hooks, and there is literally no rust at all.

I'm very, very lazy about rinsing flies after they've been used in saltwater, and am constantly having flies rust out after cutting them off and putting them back in a box. I've always been annoyed with this, but am far too lazy to spend time rinsing flies. However with these breathable boxes there is absolutely no rust. When this fact dawned on me, it really blew me away. The vent system must do its job, because virtually every other time I've removed changed flies and stuck a wet, saltwater soaked fly back in a box its generally rusty within a week. In one of the two boxes I bought I have a 10 or so brand new patterns that I've stuffed in there, and they've spent the last quite a while in the same box as the wet, used flies that I've stuck in there as I've cut them off of people's lines, and there is not a speck of rust on these new flies either. I've often had the problem in the past of neighboring flies also getting rusty just from being near a wet fly. Not the case with these boxes.

My biggest complaint about these boxes are they aren't terribly big, and don't hold a ton of flies... However for the purpose of storing wet, used in the salt flies, these things are friggen fantastic!

Anyway, just thought I'd share with you all. These aren't super cheap as fly boxes go, but I'm here to tell you they flat out work and when it comes to salvaging used flies without needing to rinse them, they are worth their weight in gold!

If you're lazy like me, and are bad about rinsing flies after a day of fishing, I highly recommend checking one of these boxes out. Our saltwater environment is terrible on gear, so anything that works this well at helping keep things rust free is A OK in my book!

View attachment 196834
Can't wait til they make a box big enough to stuff my waders, reel, rod, boots, and stripping basket in after saltwater fishing, too.
 
#5 ·
No rust?! Is that even possible?

Will have to check these out. I've had great results with the Plan D streamer boxes, but not zero rust results.

Also, I'm definitely copying that super flashy cone-head pattern in the bottom row...
Haha That stupid simple thing has flat out crushed fish the last week or so

The lack of rust has shocked the hell out of me. I am on the water an awful lot and have dealt with rusting flies for years. I would never have believed it if I hadnt seen it for myself. I dont know how it works, but it sure does.
 
#20 ·
Timely post Nick, I was wondering about the box and want to pick up a Tacky tube as well. I picked up a Patagonia "Wader work Station", the Tacky box would fit perfectly, minimalism for beach fishing, I am putting away my sling pack.
Tacky boxes will fit perfectly in the station. Yay!
Yes please minimize Dave, your sling pack weighs like 20lbs haha

I'll have to give this a try next time I buy a flybox, thanks for being the test pilot Nick.
 
#9 ·
That cuts down on the fun. For me, it seems an inordinate amount of fly fishing is finding the right Puget Sound fly box for me (clear, easy to put flies in, large space for large flies, not too bulky for comfortable wading use, full-length and well-spaced slits instead of space-wasting short ones in rows, etc.)

As an aside, if anyone has the capability of building a flybox, I'd love to chat down with you. If I could find the "perfect" flybox I'd be happy to spend $100-200 per box and get a few.
 
#12 ·
I sure have saved some coin not being on here much recently. A couple days checking in and @Nick Clayton has me buying new fly boxes and @Eyejuggler has me looking at a wader station (to replace/suplement all the other gear I have to hold my other gear) and the Tacky Tube. And that's just one thread!
 
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