Viking Lars | Saturday, 12 June 2021
When I go traveling, longer trips, sometimes to places where I’ve ever been and I isn’t sure what to expect, I always spend a great deal of time putting together a travel kit with a selection of materials with which I can imitate most insects. When you get such a kit fine tuned, it really can get quite small and compact. And of course it should cause one to reflect over that rather well assorted taxidermist shop at home.
I go to at least two, some times more, conferences every year. Most here in Denmark, but sometimes abroad as well. I always enjoy them and even if it goes against what most believe, archaeologists are quite a colourful and cheerful crowd. But still, I’ve never really enjoyed larger crowds for longer periods, so I usually head up to my room for an early night.
While on a completely different level than a travel kit for a long trip, I often bring materials for a pattern or two and sit down and tie a handful of flies before turning in. Even though it’s terribly expensive, I really love my C&F Design Marco Polo Fly Tying Kit for both these conferences and of course longer fishing trips. I grab the box and I have every tool I need. The one crux of all traveling fly tying is weight. And the base for the vice in this kit is ideally too light for tying. But if it was heavier, well, it would be heavier - and you can work around it. And when it comes to pack size, you just can’t beat this kit. Every tool ever needed packed into a C&F Design standard size fly box.
I have some *really* nice fly tying bags (and I in fact just got a new one, which I’ll write about later), but for these conferences, I just pack for a pattern or two, and the flat pack you see in the picture is perfect for this purpose. A full size Whiting cape fits perfectly and there’s more than enough room for the rest, even the Marco Polo kit. In the PoD, I’m tying a large tube fly. An added bonus is that this pack is made by a small, Danish start-up called OddBag. I got a set of 4 flat packs for a very reasonable price. Check them out on Instagram.
Rather than spending an hour or two on the tube, on Netflix or YouTube, I really enjoy tying a few flies. I often check out the hotel I’m staying at on Google Maps as well. If there’s a park near by, I also sometimes bring a rod and a line and cast for an hour in the park, if the weather’s good. As far as the conferences go, these are often held during the winter, so it’s not that often I do this.
Just another few ways of how this hobby sometimes fits very well into a “normal”, everyday life.
Have a great weekend!
Lars