MidCurrent Tested and Trusted: Montana Fly Company Boat Box
I’m a bit of a streamer junkie, not just as an angler but as a collector as well. I love everything about those fluffy, shiny, wiggly little bugs. I’m constantly hunting for and creating new patterns. My fly tying desk looks like a tragic accident where a rooster, a deer, and a box of Christmas tinsel somehow exploded. Whenever a fly shop owner sees me walking up to the counter with an armful of flies, they show me pictures of their kids—who I’m about to help put through college. It’s a true addiction, one that created a lot of problems for me. Chief among them: How will I carry my massive streamer collection on the river?
I tried stacked bins where they would get flattened and tangled. I tried putting them in individual baggies I could carry in a fanny pack where they’d get knotted and lost in disorganized confusion. This, of course, fueled the fire because I constantly had to replace patterns that were ruined or lost. I needed a better way.
Packing It Up
Montana Fly Company Boat Boxes are hard-sided, heavy-duty fly boxes that are the perfect container for carrying all manner of flies. Made of a tough ABS plastic lined with thick layers of foam, MFC boxes come in a variety of sizes and styles that can fit hundreds to thousands of flies in varying hook sizes. As a streamer box, they’re truly perfect, allowing me to fit rows and rows of both single hook and articulated streamer patterns in some semblance of organization.
The thick foam lining of the MFC fly boxes hang on to hooks better than anything else I’ve tried, which lets me really pack them up knowing that my bugs are going to stay in place. With the largest boxes measuring 13 x 10 inches and more than 4 inches deep, there’s room to spare. There’s even an option of adding extra foam pages so you can cram them full of more flies than a bloated bullfrog. MFC Boxes seem designed around the idea that you can never have too many flies, letting you head to the river prepared with absolutely anything the fish may want.
Banging Around
Aside from room to carry an entire warehouse worth of flies, the MFC Fly Boxes are also tough as nails. Their thermoplastic polymer shells are nearly a quarter-inch thick, meaning you can drop them off a cliff, have them fall out of the back of your truck, or lose them down a rocky, fast-moving river (I’ve done all three) and they’ll come out blemished but undamaged.
The MFC Boat Box is also completely waterproof. The boxes are lined with a rubber edging that seals out water and are designed with a clasp to completely lock the boxes shut. Not only does this protect your flies from rain and accidental drops in the water, it also gives them a place to dry out and recover from everyday wear and tear. In short, the MFC Fly Box will help your streamer fishing game because your favorite bugs will last longer no matter how hard you fish them.
Sharing the Load
I will admit that the price of the MFC Boat Box seems a little steep at around $100. But you’re getting a durable, waterproof fly box with a ton of storage room—the MFC Boat Box is a worthy investment. It’ll help you organize, carry, and protect your endless accumulation of fly patterns. It also help curb your addiction. When your flies last longer, there’s no need to tie or buy more. This means you can spend less time acquiring flies and more time fishing them, which is plenty addicting all on its own.
