Felt paged wallet OK for all soft hackles?

[jaydawg]

Hello. I've got a quick question. I'm currently reading The Art of Tying the Wet Fly and noticed (from that great pic in the front of the book) that Leisenring used a felt paged wallet for his wet flies. I just happen to have a nice old Battenkill fly wallet that would serve the same purpose wonderfully. My question is, are there any soft hackle that should not be kept in this manner? As long as they are soft hackle can I assume they will come back to life, from being flattened in the wallet, once they hit the water? Thank you ahead of time for any observation you guy may have on this subject.

I also want to give a quick thank you to all the folk who contribute to this forum. The information, observation and general good idea contained in this forum have been very helpful as I teach myself about the wonderful work of soft hackle flies and how to "make them deadly". I hope I'll have something to contribute in the future.

[William Anderson]

Jaydawg,

I wish I could take the time to write more on this, maybe someone else will in my absence, but there was some discussion and I have made quite a few felt paged wallets. Lance has made a couple and has be generous enough to show several pages out of...and including the wallet itself that his father carried on the stream. This thread was not about wallets but a few pages touched on the topic.

http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... t&start=30

I hope that helps. I very hardy welcome and I hope you enjoy the gracious spirit of the forum.

Cheers.

w

[hankaye]

jaydawg, Howdy;

Nothing to say about the fly wallets...
Do want to say Howdy and welcome to the forum,
be sure to check out the reference and links sections...


hank

[Mataura mayfly]

jaydawg, A personal view..... but I hate them. I am possibly going to get shot down for saying so..... but I dislike them a lot.
If you have read through a few "past posts" you might have picked up I do like old reels and rods, but I have had nothing but woes with felt wallets.

I find them clumsy to use, either dropping flies not held securely or not releasing flies too well embedded in the felt. Rusty hooks as a result of placing wet flies back in the wallet (my fault entirely) or worse deep wading and the bottom of my vest being underwater and the felt acting like a sponge.
Others like them and use them, I will get shot down in flames by some for saying the above, but they are just my personal views, you should form your own decision.
I only use plastic split foam insert modern waterproof boxes now.

As to flat storage and the hackle reviving once re-wet, yes that will happen, just make sure the flies are dried on your vest patch before storing them back in the wallet.

And welcome to the forum, enjoy your time, the wealth of knowledge and the friendly folk that reside here.

[JohnP]

I agree with the above poster. They look cool, but functionally leave much to be desired, IMHO.

[jaydawg]

Jaydawg,

I wish I could take the time to write more on this, maybe someone else will in my absence, but there was some discussion and I have made quite a few felt paged wallets. Lance has made a couple and has be generous enough to show several pages out of...and including the wallet itself that his father carried on the stream. This thread was not about wallets but a few pages touched on the topic.

http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... t&start=30

I hope that helps. I very hardy welcome and I hope you enjoy the gracious spirit of the forum.

Cheers.

w

Thanks William. That was a cool thread. Exactly what I was looking for. It seems there's no problem with hackles being crushed. But I did read quite a few more "down side" comments about the wallets that I hadn't considered. Guess I'll just have to give it a try and see for my self. I'm using a Recycled Waders bag that is fairly water proof so the wallet getting wet might not be much of an issue.

[jaydawg]

jaydawg, A personal view..... but I hate them. I am possibly going to get shot down for saying so..... but I dislike them a lot.
If you have read through a few "past posts" you might have picked up I do like old reels and rods, but I have had nothing but woes with felt wallets.

I find them clumsy to use, either dropping flies not held securely or not releasing flies too well embedded in the felt. Rusty hooks as a result of placing wet flies back in the wallet (my fault entirely) or worse deep wading and the bottom of my vest being underwater and the felt acting like a sponge.
Others like them and use them, I will get shot down in flames by some for saying the above, but they are just my personal views, you should form your own decision.
I only use plastic split foam insert modern waterproof boxes now.

As to flat storage and the hackle reviving once re-wet, yes that will happen, just make sure the flies are dried on your vest patch before storing them back in the wallet.

And welcome to the forum, enjoy your time, the wealth of knowledge and the friendly folk that reside here.

Those all sound like very valid issues with the felt wallets. I also really like the new split foam boxes. Especially the low profile ones. They do lay the hackles down a little but the space saving design is great.

[letumgo]

jaydawg - Welcome to the forum. It is great to see you jump in with such an interesting question/discussion. My own opinion is mixed (pro & con), on the choice of using fly wallets with felt pages. I love them, for their aesthetic appeal to fly fishing tradition/history (warm leather/soft pages - there is something very positive about the tactile feel of the leather wallets). For me, the leather fly wallets harken back to the nostalgia/traditions/equipment used by our predecessors. I just love the look of a well used leather fly wallet. I have seen/handled/admired the one used by Pete Hidy (Lance's father). It is a thing of beauty...

On the con side, I agree with Jeff (Mataura mayfly). From a practical standpoint, the modern plastic/foam boxes have many advantages. The main advantage, to my mind, is that the modern materials are non-absorbent. I have a nasty habit of falling in (William - stop laughing at me... ), wading too deep (I am not as tall as Hank ), or simply fishing in the rain (when any sensible person should sit home). The result, is often wet equipment & fly boxes. Foam fly boxes easily dry out over night, while felt/leather wallets could stay damp wet for a couple days. Not good, in my personal opinion.

Do not worry about the hackle getting squished on wingless wet flies. The hackle tends to be very soft (even softer once it gets wet). Soft hackles/wingless wets/flymphs are very forgiving about being compressed. Heck, they may even fish better, from the abuse. In other words, they may serve as a better insect imitation if the fly is a little bedraggled. In the world of fishing flies, "pretty" is nice to look at, but "ugly" gets results...

Great discussion. I look forward to your participation in the forum. Questions/discussion/information is always welcome.

[Ron Eagle Elk]

I love a leather and felt wallet....to display flies at a tying demo. I fish barbless flies exclusively and would constantly be dropping flies if I used such a wallet on the river. I do have a leather and sheepskin wallet that I use for my steelhead flies, simply because a fly of such beauty deserves a classy home. I always have to remove all the flies after a fishing trip to dry them and the wallet so the flies don't rust.

[gingerdun]

Jason,
The posts here are all good advice. I doubt that felt wallets will ever become popular because of the extra trouble required to prevent rusty hooks. And the barbless hooks do indeed tend to come loose. But Leisenring and my father carried all their wet flies in such wallets when fishing, so they can work when properly used by people who are better at staying dry than Ray and I are.
Lance