The Best Fly Boxes For Trout Flies

A good fly box is something a lot of us overlook until we need one. When it’s below freezing outside and the plastic hinges give out, your cheap box can crack and spill your entire collection into the frigid water (I’m speaking from experience on this one). Or if you’re caught in a downpour, all your flies can get waterlogged and musty fairly quickly, too. I’ve even had some hooks rust from getting too wet in cheap boxes.

Most of all, though, a good fly box stores your flies in a system that makes sense to you and is easy to navigate. As an added bonus, boxes used for dry flies should have enough room to not crush the hackle on standard patterns like the Elk Hair Caddis.

The fly boxes we’ll look at today have all been thoroughly vetted as the cream of the crop. These are like your favorite aunt’s cookies at Thanksgiving – they’re the best, and you really can’t go wrong with any choice.

Best Fly Boxes

• Personal Favorite: Tacky Pescador Magpad Medium
• Runner-Up: Tacky Original
• Best Foam Box: Fulling Mill Stealth
• Best Compartment Box: Umpqua UPG Bug Compartment Mini

How We Tested

Most fly boxes are largely derivative. While the companies themselves insist their boxes are vastly different (and superior) from others on the market, that’s just not the case.

Within the space, you essentially have a few options to look for: foam or silicone inserts for your flies; magnetic pads for small flies; and compartment-style boxes. Magnetic or level closures are the most popular ways to close a fly box’s lid.

The real separation of one box from another comes in that box’s size, weight, profile, durability, and storage capacity. There’s no “right” or “wrong” choice here, either. It largely depends on how you like to sort and store your flies.

I prefer a compartment-style box for all my hackled flies, like a Griffiths Gnat, Elk Hair Caddis, or Royal Wulff. I also like to stick my foam bugs in here, too.

Then, I like a slim silicone-insert box for all my nymphs and parachute or comparadun-style dry flies and emergers. I usually have 3-4 boxes in my bag at any given time, sorted based on size of fly and style.

With all this said, there’s a ton of personal preference that goes into picking a box, so I focused my efforts on picking and reviewing boxes that would work for all the other ways I’ve seen folks store and sort their flies. The only caveat is that you’ll notice I’m a big fan of silicone inserts. Foam wears out over time; it doesn’t dry as quickly, and I’ve found it doesn’t hold flies as tightly, either. It might be a bit cheaper, but in my experience, it’s not worth the cost savings.

I also looked at the box’s long-term durability potential and how easy it is to open and close.

Personal Favorite: Tacky Pescador Magpad Medium

Personal Favorite

Tacky Pescador Magpad Medium

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Specifications

Pros & Cons

Tacky’s Pescador Magpad Medium is my favorite all-around box because it’s got everything I want. The silicone insert is time-tested and proven to hold flies securely. I’ve dropped these boxes and had them burst open plenty of times, only for my flies to stay locked in place. The Magpad is nice because it gives you a place to put a bunch of tiny midges that can be a pain to slip in and out of silicone, or to dump flies when quickly re-rigging.

There’s enough space in between the rows that you could use it for hackled dry flies, although I still prefer to put those in compartment boxes to avoid smashing the hackle.

About the only con I can find here is that the hinge on the Pescador Magpad can be a bit stiff sometimes, so you might need two hands to open it. That’s hardly a dealbreaker, but probably worth bringing up here. If I were limited to one kind of fly box, this would be it.

Runner Up: Tacky Original

Runner-Up

Tacky Original

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Specifications

Pros & Cons

I’ve been rocking a Tacky Original since the days when the company was run out of a basement in American Fork, Utah. I was fortunate enough to know a couple of those owners, and I still use those OG boxes. They’ve held up well on trips all over the country (including to Alaska), and the only complaint I have is that I didn’t keep them in better shape. They might end up as collector’s items at some point.

From a functionality standpoint, though, it’s hard to beat the Tacky Original. You’ve got the clear lid for quickly identifying what flies are in the box, and enough room for 168 flies. It’s thin, compact, and I’ve had it fit well in more than a dozen different vests, chest packs, and slings over the years.

The only knock I can make is that the plastic lid scratches quickly and easily, so it’ll look beat up in no time. Also, the original magnets that hold the lid closed can get small rocks or dirt stuck to them (or tiny flies) and not close all the way.

Best Foam Box: Fulling Mill Stealth

Best Foam Box

Fulling Mill Stealth

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Specifications

Pros & Cons

While foam boxes aren’t my cup of tea, enough anglers still prefer them that they’re made in large quantities. Fulling Mill’s Stealth box is probably the best example. The foam they use is high-density and cuts well, so flies slide in and out without the hassle you sometimes get with silicone boxes that aren’t completely cut.

Plus, the Stealth is one of the lightest and most compact boxes in the lineup, which is surprising since it holds so many flies. While I like to think I have a decent collection of flies on hand, I don’t know that I could fill all 260 slots in the Stealth.

Best Compartment Box: Umpqua UPG Bug Compartment Mini

Best Compartment Box

Umpqua UPG Bug Compartment Mini

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Specifications

Pros & Cons

The Umpqua UPG Bug Compartment Mini is probably my favorite compartment box out there for a few reasons. For starters, it’s one of the few with a magnetic lid closure, instead of a plastic tab. That means it’ll still work well, even in cold weather when plastic can become brittle.

Since the compartments are different sizes, you have built-in organization for all sizes of your flies. The only drawback is that you can’t change the compartment sizes on your own, as you can with some boxes.