Hawgdaddy’s Hints: Improving the Cigar Tin Fly Box
I’ve finally got another tip to share with you. Well, it’s not so much a tip as a refinement to a tip shared by our friend Eduardo at Mendoza Fly Fishing. Back when I highlighted Eduardo’s nifty tutorial, I mentioned I had made one in the past almost identical to his. Eduardo and I discussed how the little fly boxes were very handy for nymphs and smaller bugs, but you just didn’t have space for dries or larger flies. I’ve found a nice solution to that problem.
There are at least two brands that offer tinned cigarillos in sizes that provide more ample space for larger flies. You won’t be able to cram size 2/0 bass poppers in there (at least not without severely altering their shape), but they’ve got 1/2″-3/4″ of clearance. I wanted something small to carry my bluegill flies in, and these boxes are perfect. I tie my bluegill flies in fairly large sizes, one because we have large sunfish around here, and two because I want a shot at a bass when tossing them. The tins will fit neatly in the front pocket of a shirt, and they’re about twice as deep as the typical cigarillo tins. The ones I found are Romeo Y Julieta Reserva Real Minutos Petites and Don Diego No. 5 Elites, but I’m sure there are others. I just roughly cut 2mm craft foam, scratch the bottom of the tins a bit, and superglue two layers of foam in there. Eduardo does a much cleaner job of it in his tutorial. The best thing about these cigar fly boxes is that you get the smokes, too. I especially recommend the Don Diegos for a quick, smooth-bodied smoke, and the Don Diego tin is slightly deeper for holding bigger flies. For you non-fly fishing types out there, these boxes would make pretty cool tins for carrying your crappie jigs.
P.S. – For those of you paying attention, I plan to post another item up for grabs on the TVangler Classifieds Page tomorrow. I’m not naming a time. You’ll just have to keep your eyes open, and count on some luck, sort of like fishing.
Take care,
Nathan
My two cigar tin fly boxes. See, I even color coordinated the foam! These are the perfect size for a small shirt-pocket fly box.
Tags: cigars, fly boxes, fly fishing, Hawgdaddy's Hints, tips
March 31st, 2009 at 11:10 am
That’s pretty nifty work there hawgdaddy! I can’t believe you just bought those tins yesterday evening and smoked all those cigarillos just to come up with an article for the night. Maybe that explains the wicked crazy gar flies you tied…..
March 31st, 2009 at 11:20 am
** Also coming soon will be a journal of some lunchtime fishing adventures with Hawgdaddy and I. Only a few miles from our work lies the Tennessee River and a small creek that’s muddy, covered with cottonmouths, overpopulated with gar, sparsley populated with giant channel cats, and home to a few bass and bluegill. I’m am positive you will be interested to see what we pull out of that muddy abyss.
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:53 am
Insane,
That’s the second humorous reference to “work” recently on TV Angler. The new header “A blog by Southern guys who work hard,…” had me in apoplexy and fits… of laughter. The substitution of the adjective “hard”, over the more accurate adverb, “hardly”, is a knee-slapper.
There is nothing to be ashamed of in having worked. It’s patently obvious that it is just an unfortunate circumstance in which you find yourselves — employed. Though you stand a good chance of being disowned by relatives, shunned by slaw-dig vendors, and an object of derision on the streets for your toils; you can still hold your heads up by reassuring yourselves that it is, after all, a government job, and you probably don’t do it well anyway.
We’re pulling for ya’
Reed
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:01 am
Reed,
In retrospect, I’d like to say that it was a typo. It would seem more logical for us to say we work “hardly.” However, that doesn’t quite fit either as we spend 40 hours a week doing this thing people call “work” , which at times is quite “hard” for us to do. So, you have to look for the hidden meanings in the word. It’s more of a cry for help, for someone to hear us, for someone to free us.
Kudos to you for unraveling this mystery of work vs “work”, as we all should know that a true fisherman never does real work unless he or she is victim of such a horrific circumstance. My journey has unfortunately imprisoned me behind bars of binary code and paperwork as I am reminded daily of what could have been…
BTW,
Thanks for the support, we need it!
Dewayne
April 6th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Reed,
It all depends on how you define “work.” It seems to me a good defintion would be “the act of not fishing.” And we are certainly almost always not fishing. Hard. So you see, we are unfortunately working hard almost all of our lives. We should be getting paid for a whole lot more than 40 hrs/week.
It’s sad really, and I can’t believe folks like Insane and me (good, wholesome fellas, for sure) are allowed to languish in such a situation when so many less worthy individuals are being bailed out by the government left and right. They probably don’t even fish at all! Even if they do, it’s probably on a ranch owned by Donny Beaver, which doesn’t even count. Some of that stimulus money should come our way! It’s so obvious that I can’t believe that lousy White House Press Secretary continues to avoid mentioning us! Where’s the change I can believe in? I believed, but what did it get me? I’m still here, working hard and all. Nothing’s changed. I mean, c’mon! I still haven’t been to either Patagonia or New Zealand. &^%$!!! Now you’ve got me all worked up…
Nathan