[Alosa]

I've always loved the look of a nicely tied steelhead fly. I recently purchased a wooden fly box from an artisan in California, and stocked it with steelhead flies (and a couple of Atlantic salmon flies I got from Labrador a few years ago) to display on the mantle of my fireplace (pics below). Do any of you have flies on display around the house?

 

[Nick Clayton]

Frankly my flies are not pretty enough for display. My wife did make me a pretty neat picture frame last year displaying two pictures of adult chinook I landed that summer with the flies that caught them underneath. It's become one of my favorite possessions.

I did decide today after clipping off two flies that had been chewed to shreds that I'm going to start saving all the chewed up flies I retire and will make some sort of display to keep at my tying desk for motivation.

 

[kmudgn]

My flies would be the equivalent of putting your 3 year old's fingerpainting on the fridge

 

[The Drifter]

Does this count?

 

[Alosa]

Does this count?

Uhhh..no. That looks like something out of a fly fishing shop....like a 'tying corner'. Nice setup though...very well organized.

 

[Salmo_g]

I have one framed fly plate on the wall. My fly club does an annual Christmas fly plate containing flies tied by members. It's a raffle prize. Then I have a small frame containing a single fly. And I have a fly plate frame and a bunch of flies to put in it that I've never bothered to get finished. This thread is a good reminder to get after it.

 

[Mark Mercer]

These are my last two, the Doctors was just on the fly tying section but I guess these fit in here as well. I have more flies I should get framed but it's quite a bit of work, at least for me, I'd rather just tie them.

 

[Randy Lindahl]

I'm a better at painting than fly tying but am working on it.

Just added an old rod and reel for enhancement!

 

[Alosa]

Wow. Great stuff you guys. I loved the framed flies and the paintings. No shortage of talent around here!

 

[Stuart_Stringer]

I like to keep a small collection on display next to my whisky and brandy collection. It just seems like the correct thing to do.

I also have a shadow box of flies I tied when I was probably 13 or 14 for my grandfathers 80th birthday. The photo in the center is a picture of the Duckabush that my brother took and developed. After my grandfather passed, my parents shipped it back to me from England (and it somehow managed to survive the trip after pretty much everything else in the box was broken). The ties aren't all that great, but it sure is a prized possession.

 

[blackbird]

I have put fly images on Easter eggs, using pencil and crayons before dying

Novel and fun for me, but not so popular w the family!

Easter is on the way

J

 

[Steelheader69]

Does this count?

Too clean and organized, you're a serial killer or really don't tie flies.

 

[Alosa]

View attachment 135994
I like to keep a small collection on display next to my whisky and brandy collection. It just seems like the correct thing to do.

View attachment 135995
I also have a shadow box of flies I tied when I was probably 13 or 14 for my grandfathers 80th birthday. The photo in the center is a picture of the Duckabush that my brother took and developed. After my grandfather passed, my parents shipped it back to me from England (and it somehow managed to survive the trip after pretty much everything else in the box was broken). The ties aren't all that great, but it sure is a prized possession.

VERY nice. I like your fine choices in whisky/brandy, but especially the framed flies embedded in the piece of what I assume is drift wood. Nicely done.

 

[Nooksack Mac]

About 30 years ago, my fly club gave me a framed set of member's flies as an award for editing the newsletter for 15 years. Since then other club members and I have made framed fly displays, often for our biannual conservation auctions. Most recently, I had a low-contrast color enlargement made of a photo of Chopaka Lake, and on it mounted eight of my trout stillwater patterns. It was in an attractive frame that I'd bought for $2 at a Goodwill store. A local frame shop helped me put it together for a modest price. I suggest that you go a similar route for a start, framing one or a few flies in a shadow box or level frame. (I recommend a near-white background; note the visibility difference between Mark Mercer's two framed sets, above.)

 

[Tristan Mikoleit]

While I have a lot of fishing and fly themed stuff in my house, I only have one actual fly that is on 'display'. It is a fly my grandpa tied that is now embedded in glass in my personal coaster:

 

[Alosa]

While I have a lot of fishing and fly themed stuff in my house, I only have one actual fly that is on 'display'. It is a fly my grandpa tied that is now embedded in glass in my personal coaster:

Can't see it, but I sure would like to....

 

[Tristan Mikoleit]

Can't see it, but I sure would like to....

Interesting, it's showing for me on the thread. Attached instead of copy pasted.

 

[Steve Saville]

I have a cabinet in my living room that has a few fishing items within. There is a box of nice steelhead flies, the fly I caught my sailfish on, a Winchester Fly reel, two perrine auto reels, an outfit that supported Casting for Recovery; a pink Ross CLA 4 reel w'pink Teeny fly Line, and a TFO Casting for Recovery Rod, and a few other odds and ends that have some meaning to me. I share it with my wife's collection of "pink ladies" that she bought to support breast cancer research. I also have a complete set of Left'y Little Library that I bought in the '90's. Everything inside, including the flies, has some specific meaning to either her or me or both of us.

 

[Hiouchibear]

I've always loved the look of a nicely tied steelhead fly. I recently purchased a wooden fly box from an artisan in California, and stocked it with steelhead flies (and a couple of Atlantic salmon flies I got from Labrador a few years ago) to display on the mantle of my fireplace (pics below). Do any of you have flies on display around the house?

I was lucky enough to have Bob Quigley as a friend. He was one of the most innovative fly tiers I've ever met. I have a number of his flies I want to display. They are small trout flies so I'm having difficulty figuring out how to mount them in the shadowbox. I thought about using a little bit of glue of some kind and mounting the hooks that way. I've done shadow boxes before with larger steelhead and salmon flies but nothing like this. I thought perhaps a little dab of hot glue and then hold the hook onto it until the glue dries. Suggestions?

 

[Nooksack Mac]

Hiouch: Most flies look better when mounted to show a side view. One can use flexible wire, with the knot on the back side of a sheet, or base. For my lake fly display, I devised this method: for each fly, I used a flytying awl to punch two holes, corresponding to the hook eye and the bend. I threaded a needle and positioned a small collar button behind each hole. I made several stitches through a hole, around the hook eye or bend, then back through the button. That holds the fly securely, and it can be removed in the future, if necessary.