Sporting Kit Review: Flypad

October 12, 2014

SLIDER-Think-Fish

My Flypad life had just begun as the rivers warmed, insects emerged and fishing started in earnest eight months ago. A full season on, I’m better placed to elaborate on the joys and challenges this novel approach to storing flies provides.
The team at Thinkfish talk about the emotion of choice: ‘Fishing is also a question of choice. The choice of the design meeting the needs of the fisherman.’ This language is generally associated with the way women shop, so it should come as no surprise then that No.2 loves the Flypad. It appeals to her sense of order and the reduction of the number of fly boxes flying around Outside Days HQ. Having said that, when she heads for the river, she still takes her dad’s box…purely sentimental, she claims.

So if you’re OCD, this may well prove to be the fly storage system for you. My frustration lies in my ownership of just one Flypad, the component of the system that you take onto the river with you. When I stocked my ‘Ecosystem’ with flies, I put dries in one tray, nymphs in another. But of course

Aerial-view-flypad
this isn’t how I fish when I hit the river. So I either need a second Flypad, or I could reorganise my flies by stream. Ideal if you fish the same rivers or beats year in and year out, but the peripatetic fisherman that I am makes this impossible. Unless of course I create an Ecosystem for each country…
Filled-cartridge

My Ecosystem came with two types of trays suitable for dries and nymphs. The system has evolved further to include three models of cavity tray suitable for lures and salmon flies.  The modular nature of the Flypad Ecosystem is one of its great strengths and appeals for the experienced fisherman who knows what they want. You can easily adapt this to suit your needs, style and habit.

Which has me adding another Flypad to my Christmas list. There’s room on my box for two, and at 25 euros completely within reason for once. I can’t imagine why Santa ignored my request for a Hobie Mirage Tandem…just the ticket for getting to all those hard to reach saltwater marks.


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