Fulling Mill Tactical Max Fly Box
Fly boxes may not be the sort of purchase that sets the pulse racing but when you find a good one it makes fly selection so much easier. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I sorted out flies after a few days’ fishing and found what would have been the pattern to save the day hidden away under another fly. Over the years I’ve discovered that some space between flies stops these sorts of incidents from happening.
The downside is that as the fly collection grows, space in the box is now at a premium and you either sacrifice all the room you created or make some tough decisions and scale the flies back.
Help is now at hand though.
The Fulling Mill Tactical Max Fly Box comes with room for 960 flies that, for me at least, is more than capable of swallowing up my flies yet still giving me room to keep them apart.
First up, I noticed that the material that holds the flies (high density slit foam) grips even my size 22 patterns securely and although I’ve not had the boxes that long it doesn’t strike me as something that will stretch over time. Something that has annoyed me in the past is when I open the box and a bunch of flies have fallen out of the slots.
The box is an easy to spot red colour just in case you drop it while you’re out fishing. It is also made from impact-resistant poly-carbonate.
There is a double-sided leaf or page on the inside that also holds the flies and this is one of the best I have seen. I say this as I usually carry separate nymph and dry boxes and with other fly boxes the leaf in the middle has been slotted into a space that you can easily replace or remove. When you’re using this style for your nymphs and you have a few it just can’t cope. Usually what happens is that the connecting join bends, or worse still, breaks. The good news is that I don’t have to worry about it with the Tactical Box, the leaf is attached by a robust, strong hinge that is going nowhere. This made me very happy.
Despite the large capacity it doesn’t feel or look like a suitcase when it comes to size. The box fits easily into the pocket of my fishing pack and is comparable to other larger-sized fly boxes out there, but the dimensions are 44 x 106 x 186 (mm)
So, having spent some time giving my flies a good tidy up they now have plenty of room, are easy to store and I can now select them when I’m out on the water without worrying I can’t see everything clearly.
Am I happy with them? The answer is yes and if this isn’t enough then they are also made in the UK. Even better.
Available from Fulling Mill and Fulling Mill dealers.
More at: fullingmill.co.uk
