Fly swaps for me are a great way to see how other people tie flies. I also use swaps to tune my skills on tying flies. After 20 flies you should know a pattern.
But besides the flies, there are a lot of in and outs to a good fly swap. I want to go over some of my observations from the swaps I've been in.
Toe tag A Toe tag is a piece of paper that has the tyer's name, the name of the fly, and size of hook.
BluegillfisherThe SlayerSize 14 2x I use a word processor and print out on one sheet of paper. I cut the tags with scissors and attach to hook. I save the file and the next time I can use the Find and Replace
to edit the first doc.
BluegillfisherLittle Bitty FlySize 18Some times I put flies in plastic bags. Then I just slip the toe tag in the bag. I like to Recycle all of those bags from other things, but you can buy 100 bags at craft store like Micheal's.
The next thing is how do you ship these pointy things across the country?
This picture show different containers used for this.
From 12 o'clock: Chocolate tin with foam glued in bottom. 1 o'clock: Cheap fly box from local shop. 3 o'clock: M & M container. 6 o'clock soap dish.
9 o'clock: Cheap and empty Johnson & Johnson first aid kit. 11 o'clock: the famous Altoids tin being held tight with two rubber bands. You should put you screen name on your box and your return envelope to make it easier for swap meister to return right box to right person.
Next thing to decide is how do you want to package your flies to ship.
I took these pictures from the last swap. There is no "right" way to do it. I like to recycle so I reuse packing and envelopes.
First is the simple manila envelope shipped in a plain manila envelope. The flies are in a tin. Postage has been calculated and put
on the return envelope. The return address is filled out to make things easy for return.
The second picture is a padded return envelope. The flies in a tin. Everything is mailed to swap meister in a plain manila envelope.
Picture four is a small box for return. (Flies in a tin.) Postage added on small box. Everything put in large box and mailed to swap meister.
Bubble outside envelope to swapmeister, bubble wrap to return. Flies on white open cell foam.
Bubble outside envelope to swapmeister, bubble wrap to return. Soap dish with flies in it.
All of the first class postage was under $2.00. Fly swaps should be fun for everyone. If you are entering multiple swaps, it pays to recycle packages. I hope we can continue swaps here and this makes things clearer for new tyers.
Marion