There’s nothing worse than pulling out a few hooks to get ready to tie flies, only to accidentally drop them on the carpet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done this over the five decades I’ve been tying flies. Sure, you can pick them up from the carpet, but I can pretty much guarantee you’ll miss one and it will end up in your foot later on.
I’ve owned a lot of fly tying vises over the years, and none of them came with a way to control the hooks once they’re out of the hook case. I like to pull a few out at a time; I don’t like to have to take only one hook out at a time.
So here’s a hint, glue a small magnet to your fly tying station pedestal base. These small magnets are inexpensive and they readily glue to the metal base using cyanoacrylate glue (so called, “super glue”). Now you can take a few hooks out of the case, put them on the magnet, and they won’t go anywhere until you need them to! It’s a foot saver, for sure!
If your vise is the C-clamp style, then buy a small magnetic bowl, like the one’s mechanics use. It will work just as well. I use one to hold my defective flies, until I decide to untie them to reuse the hooks.
Just one thing, remember that button magnets can be dangerous to little children. They are shiny and little children like to put them in their mouths, then end up swallowing them. So, make sure it’s glued down well and then there’s no worries.
Happy tying!
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