A fly box is just a fly box right? Something cheap, a film canister, maybe even an old cigar tin will do! Sure, but lets face it those flies are pretty special. A great rod, lovely slick line and a tapered leader counts for nothing if your hook is rusty, a hackle crushed or just as the fish start rising you can’t find the right pattern!
There are therefore many beautiful and varied methods of storing flies on the market, some so fancy you dare not place them in your waistcoat pocket for fear of them falling in the water, often because they are heavy and will sink to the bottom. This happened to me once, a full set of dry flies that must have taken me weeks to tie ended up at the bottom of my favourite pool. It was too late when I realised; the moment that I did will live for me forever, it was like my heart had been ripped out. All those tails, hackles, wings, glossy heads … little favourites, gone forever! Enough stories, you need to know why C&F design boxes are just so good.
C & F stands for Concept & Form which describes them perfectly. Available in many sizes to fit into bags, waistcoats and packs, many of the boxes feature waterproof O rings. All the boxes float. They are attractive to look at. Our guides open and close their boxes thousands of times per year, the hinges and catches etc., just keep going and going. C&F produce boxes that will take indicators, interchangeable boxes that take all manner of foams and for those who find threading their flies a little tricky, enter the threader box, a simple system that should see a lot less fumbling and an awful lot more fishing. The people at C&F (a Japanese company) take things even further by looking ahead at what their anglers may require from products in the future, so for example a lanyard is available that has been designed to hold a box in place, conveniently to hand. In fact there are so many great products from the C&F stable that many more reviews will appear here in the future, but for now, back to the fly boxes.
Take all of the above and you have a great product but then add to it their unique “slit foam system” No longer watch as the foam in your boxes becomes pitted and eventually warn out, instead just slide your fly straight into a pattern hugging little slot that won’t let go until you want it to. Ingenious!
Best of all this fine fly transportation comes in at a very reasonable price, around £15.99 for the smaller basic boxes, rising up to around £35.00 for a real Rolls Royce. Some may say this sounds a little expensive, but then weigh this up against what the flies inside are worth, how many other fly boxes would be worn out over a few seasons and the simple fact that C&F fly boxes have the best design in the world and yet they are still cheaper than many on the market. Our favourite boxes include …The new 2007 M Series (CF 2555) The CF3500 for Salmon Flies and when travelling abroad we go armed with several of the Grand Slam series, sporting either a Bonefish, Tarpon or Permit beautifully etched on to the front cover. Series numbers CFGS 3500, 3544 & 3555.
