I thought I’d share this for the interest of others that display their flies from time to time.
For the 2017 Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo I wanted as an item of interest, to display a few of my favourite small stream flies. It was more or less a last minute decision so I racked my brain as to how I could best show them off considering they were small, ranging from #14 down to #20. Most of the methods I had seen were too bulky and the small flies would be overshadowed and perhaps wouldn’t be appreciated.
I eventually settled on a plank of sneezewood from an old fencing pole sanded and beautifully polished on the one side and roughly finished on the other by, amongst other things, craftsman, blogger, freelance writer and all round generous guy, Andrew Savs. For fear of damaging the sanded and oiled side in case it didn’t work out, I settled on using the rustic look and opted for the rough finish. Drilled 15 equally spaced holes along its length with a 1.5mm drill bit – broke 3 and finally finished the last hole with the fourth bit.
RAB fixed in position using the method described.
I used 15 suitably sized sewing needs as the posts. On the points of each needle I added a small cylinder of black foam cut with the sharpened section of a vintage telescopic car radio aerial. A Heath Robinson contraption I have used for years for cutting cylinders of foam in various diameters for all types for patterns ranging from tiny ants to fair sized hoppers. Through the top of these I was able attach the flies. The needle and flies were then positioned in the holes in the sneezewood plank. They can be swiveled for the best or multiple views of the fly.
The tools and other bits needed
A drop of super glue on the needle and hook point will make it more secure, but also a bit of a job trying to dismantle.
The foam and needle size can be adapted to suit most fresh water flies.
All images and copy in this post are copyright Peter Brigg Photography © 2017. All rights reserved
Call of the Stream 
Clever Peter,
I loved what you did with your display. To be honest I was rather disappointed that not a single fly tier at the show, bar myself and James Christmas, had taken the time or effort to showcase any of their signature flies. Doing so enables the general public to be able to engage with the fly tier and ask questions on how curtain flies are constructed and the thought processes behind their development. Not all but a large majority of fly fisherman visit fly fairs in Europe purely to meet, watch and pick the brains of fly tiers that have given them inspiration over the years within the sport.
Thanks Simon,
I wanted to tie a few flies as well, but with the number of people passing through I never got the chance. I don’t consider myself particularly good at tying flies. What I do enjoy is being as creative as I can, tweaking good patterns and making them simpler to tie, but not taking away any of their qualities – I tie flies to fish, not for showcases 🙂 Taking this route I have a few now that I can safely call my own and that have become signature flies.
I do agree with your comments about fly tyers displaying their flies. A point for Gordon at the next expo.
Cheers.