Antique Fly Wallets

Old leather, sheepskin, metal. Those are the materials for what was a very common sight years ago – fly wallets!

We didn’t have the plastic containers so many of us use today. Many of our fly boxes consist of foam slots or clear plastic, materials unavailable decades ago.

A friend of mine recently gave me this fly wallet, adding to my antique fly wallet collection. I was stunned! What a thoughtful gift. I’ve always been intrigued about fly fishing’s past. These were very common, not the fly boxes we have in your vests and packs.

And the flies…I wonder how many fish they caught, or if they caught fish. The styles are different than the flies I tie and fish today.

Tinsel, silk, quill wings, golden pheasant, jungle cock, duck…these are only a few of the materials used to tie these beautiful flies. I don’t know the names of them, but wish I did. I wonder what the underlying stories would be if these flies could speak. Where were they fished? Did they catch fish? Who tied them? Those are just a few of the question’s I’d have for the owner. It makes me smile looking at all the flies.

In the coming weeks, I’ll share a few more fly wallets. You’ll be amazed at the contents and how the fly wallets were made.

They deserve to be seen. They are the classics from which fly fishing has evolved.

Somehow, there is an elegance in the old leather, sheepskin, and metal.