DryFly
DRY FLY: Catskill Mountains Bench Magnet
DRY FLY: Catskill Mountains Bench Magnet
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The same product as the DRY FLY Bench Magnet - but with "The Catskill Mountains" engraved on the logo. A reference to our home waters and the birthplace of dry fly tying and fishing in America.
A very strong magnet with a cork base.
The perfect accessory for your fly tying bench or vice.
Position flies on the magnet to organize them while tying while protecting long hackles.
-Organize hooks and beads.
-Stage partially tied batches of flies.
-Capture dropped hooks.
-Position tied flies for drying.
(Can also display flies on your refrigerator, so everyone can see what you’ve been doing for the past 3 hours.)
Be careful. Not a toy.
It can take some finesse to post different flies on your new magnets. Here are a couple tips.
-Post down eye flies upside down.
-Post up eye flies right side up.
-Straight eye, your call.
THE STORY
Late one night, many years ago, I was looking through vintage lots of fly tying materials on ebay. It’s a small obsession that continues to occupy many of my idle hours. During this particular ebay expedition I came across a collection of rooster capes that included a fiery furnace, a color I was actually looking to add to my bench. The feathers, photographed sitting on a blue sheet of plastic, looked to be in pretty good shape, so I threw in a bid. About a week later a huge handmade box arrived on my porch via UPS. Cutting through the layers of cardboard and packing tape revealed the blue plastic. It turned out to be the lid of a 20-gallon storage bin containing what I can only guess was an avid fly fisherman’s lifetime collection of materials and tools. A small skunk, a mink, multiple pheasants, large swathes of caribou, elk and white tail, preserved in repurposed bread bags, furs ranging from beaver to muskrat, even a small antique pack of Orvis seal fur. As I explored the Plano boxes of thread, yarn, hooks and tools I found a set of 3/4” magnets with hooks and flies stuck all over them. I picked off the hooks and placed the magnets on the base of my vice. I found that if you carefully arrange the flies on the edge of the magnet they are held in a tidy circle. I also eventually realized that with the two magnets stacked the height allows the hackles of dry flies to stay straight while sitting on their post.
Almost every fly I have tied over the years has gone from the vice directly to one of these magnets. I have found them to be a simple and convenient extra set of fingers. They have also caught many an errant hook or bead before it could bounce to my lap or disappear into the void of no return under my desk. The magnets have remained part of my fly tying bench ever since.
I don’t know who the previous owner of the magnets was. I am grateful for his materials and honored to tie flies with it. I like to think he would appreciate it being put to good use and for being the inspiration for DRY FLY Bench Magnets.
