I think fly tying is at least 50% storage logistics (the other 50% being prep but that will be for a different blog post). Once you start tying for more than five minutes your material accumulation becomes overwhelming, add 15+ years to that and you have amassed a collection that would rival most fly shops with the amount of materials you have. One of the most annoying materials to store is hooks followed closely by beads. They are small, slippery, and surprisingly bouncy which makes them tedious at best to keep track of. The packaging they come with has zero consistency from brand to brand and the worst of the packaging has the item description removed once opened. It can really be a pain.
I have a solution to this tedium that works really well for me. I use a combination of a specific beading container and 4mil zip top bags. I have a ton of hooks and beads and for the volume I have collected this is what makes the most sense. If you think you have a better solution, reach out and let me know!
The beading container I use I used to get from Joann’s. Now with Michaels buying them you can get it there. It is the best one out there. The compartments are sealed from one another and there are 32 of them. They are large enough to hold 6/0 hooks (maybe a dozen or so but still!), they are relatively affordable at $10-13 (depending on when you get them), and they take sharpie really well for labeling. The ones from Michaels have sloped bottoms making getting the beads or hooks out of each compartment easier. The brand you are looking for is Bead Landing. I say that because Walmart sells an extremely similar product. This one looks nearly identical but is the brand The Beadery. This one is fine and works but the compartments are not slopped and without the slope it is hard to get small hooks or beads out of the container.
I buy a lot of hooks and beads and each brand has their own packaging and honestly they all kind of stink. They either have too much on them so you can’t see in them, they are flimsy, hard to open, have annoying pieces of cardboard or magnets in them, or just too slippery to stack together. I also buy in bulk internationally and those hooks sometimes come wrapped in wax paper. By using these containers instead of the retail packaging I can organize them by style, brand, size, shape, wire gauge, fly type, or even fish species a whole lot easier.
So I have about two dozen of these containers but I still have overflow. This is because I buy in bulk. I tie flies for trips, friends, the occasional customer, and my own boxes so I buy a lot at a time. Also, I say this a lot, but hooks and beads don’t go bad. They aren’t bread or milk and as long as you keep them dry and out of direct sunlight they should last indefinitely. Hooks and beads are not different from anything else in fly tying. Products get discontinued all the time and they are always going up in price. So if you like something buy as much as you can comfortably afford (sometimes even uncomfortably afford). That all being said I also buy zip top baggies to put stuff in. I have found the ones you find at your local big box stores from more recognizable brands to just not be that robust for filling with sharp and heavy materials. If you go on Amazon or Uline you can find 4mil bags of any size you can think of. This thickness, for me, is the best blend of affordability and durability you can buy. You can get thicker bags but they are way more expensive and not as clear, and you could get thinner but they feel flimsier. 4mil is the best blend. I like the 3”x5” size but get whichever works for you. These also take sharpie really well so labeling is a breeze as long as you do that before you put the beads or hooks in them.
There are a lot of options out there but at my level and style of tying I like my method. If there is one you like better, reach out! I would love to hear it and maybe you’ll even change my mind.
Thanks and let me know if you have any questions here, on social media, or through the contact page.
